


I Want You To Want Me

by Strutter654



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22042420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strutter654/pseuds/Strutter654
Summary: It was at that moment that Hope’s brain had a thought: If Josie Saltzman didn’t remember that she had a crush on Hope, then Hope would make her remember.  Not by bringing back everybody’s memories, no, she didn’t even know if that was possible, but by making her crush all over again, and as soon as she thought it, she knew it was a terrible idea.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Landon Kirby & Josie Saltzman
Comments: 204
Kudos: 807





	1. Food for Thought

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fanfic, and it will be a Hosie slow-burn! This takes place after season 1 - Hope is back at the Salvatore School, but nobody remembers her, and Landon and Josie are dating. I have no idea when I'll update it, but if y'all like it, I'll try to be somewhat prompt about it!

She threw another rock into the lake, at least she meant to, but her anger had another destination in mind. The rock sailed way beyond the lake, she could only follow its course so far before the woods on the other side swallowed it. She was angrier than she intended to be, but why? She knew this would happen. She sat down on the grass, picked up a fallen twig, and stabbed it into the ground beside her. She knew they wouldn’t remember. Why was she angry that they forgot? She sighed. She supposed she was holding onto a sliver of hope – her name, her face, their memories – that’s not what she’s mad about. She understood why they couldn’t remember those, but feelings? Shouldn’t feelings be un-erasable? Don’t they work outside of logic and magic and time? “The heart doesn’t forget” – isn’t that how the saying goes? She also supposed, though, that if you could magic someone into having feelings, love potion-like, then perhaps you could magic them out. Still, though, it hurt. Shouldn’t they still feel something? De ja vu? Anything, like she does, right now - mostly hurt and anger and betrayal and pain? 

“It’s raining.” At first she thinks she imagined the voice. She heard nobody approaching, saw nobody in her peripherals, felt nobody as you’d expect a tribrid would, until it came again. “It’s raining – I brought you an umbrella.” Hope finally acknowledged both the person and the rain. She hadn’t noticed either. Her blue eyes met brown ones as Josie Saltzman took a seat beside her, removing the knife-stick staked into the ground. The umbrella was only big enough for one person, and Josie held it over Hope. She hasn’t changed, Hope thought, the benefactor of Josie’s put-yourself-last mentality. She slowly pushed the umbrella back to Josie, as the rain became harder and she wanted to feel the sting of every single drop. 

“Dinner’s ready – my dad asked me to let you know,” Josie offers as she gets back to her feet, dusting off what is sure to be her slightly wet skirt. She stays unmoving for several seconds, as if she has more to say, and then lays the umbrella on the ground before walking away. It makes Hope’s anger rage more – Josie, who used to have a crush on her but is now unknowingly dating her boyfriend – being so sweet and god damn likeable. She stabs the branch into the ground repeatedly, until it breaks, then screams so loud she’s sure Josie and everyone else must have heard. 

Hope skipped dinner, of course. She got back to her room, slammed the door, threw the umbrella on the floor, and sat on the edge of her bed, soaking wet. She could feel the droplets from the ends of her hair slowly caressing her arms as they fell. She was never one for crowds, especially when those crowds included 2 people she was currently trying to avoid. She decided rage was better than food, and being that she wasn’t good with coping with her emotions, which right now were begging her to cry, she took her shoes off and threw them against the wall, followed by her desk chair, dresser, and finally her bed. She felt a little better. However, coping with one problem now led to another, and she had a mess to clean up. Magic was the obvious choice, but Hope realized how much time she had on her hands, so decided to do it the old-fashioned way. She was almost done when a knock on her door interrupted her what turned out to be complete room rearrangement – another attempt at coping, perhaps. She opened it enough just to see who was on the other side - of course it was Josie Saltzman. Fuck. She sighed, opening the door farther and faking a smile.

“Hey. I noticed you weren’t at dinner, so I brought you a plate,” Josie handed 2 plates and a cup to Hope, both still warm, “and dessert,” she says, way too nicely for Hope’s liking. “And some hot chocolate,” she finishes, looking embarrassingly at the ground while putting a strand of hair behind her ear. Hope almost smiles back. “We had a variety of desserts and I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just picked one,” Josie kept talking, briefly making eye contact before looking away. Hope held up the gifts so as to at least acknowledge them, in action if not in word. “We can go to breakfast tomorrow if you want – it must be overwhelming being the new girl at school,” Josie was now full-on fidgeting with her shirt buttons, Hope’s silence making her more and more anxious. Hope really had nothing to say.

“No thanks,” is what she decided on, and Josie nodded her head and smiled in defeat. 

“Okay. Well – please eat something, and I guess I’ll see you around,” she clenched her necklace, the one that Hope had given her, before she waved goodbye and left. Hope slammed the door harder than she meant to, her anger poked by Josie’s genuine kindness. Does she notice every person that doesn’t come to mealtimes, Hope wondered? She was sure Josie had duties as part of the school’s welcoming committee, and Hope was sure Josie was just following them, checking off her dutiful boxes, and for some reason that made her even more angry. The food did smell good, though, and the hot chocolate wouldn’t stay hot for long. Hope lifted the foil to find that Josie had picked her favorite dessert, red velvet cake, and she felt grateful for a fleeting moment. That feeling was quickly replaced by another thought: Am I that predictable? Am I that easy to figure out? Hope had always thought she was mysterious and not at all transparent. Staring at the cake, she agreed that she still was, and chalked it up to the luck of the draw. She ate the cake first. Maybe she could find it in herself to thank Josie, but only if they happened to stumble upon each other in a scenario in which Hope hadn’t already pre-planned to try to avoid. 

The next morning, Hope waited until there was absolutely no one left in the cafeteria before swiping an orange on her way to class. The timing worked out perfectly, as she also was the last one to her seat before the teacher began, successfully avoiding any type of socialization. She liked the seat in the back row in the corner for its isolation abilities, but it also meant she could see the whole room – every person who cheated on their tests, who slipped magical notes to each other, all the sly attempts at flirting, and yes, even Landon Kirby. She put her hood up in an attempt to avoid them all. She successfully blocked them from her vision, but couldn’t completely tune them out, and soon the sound of Landon’s voice made its way to her ears. It was a lot more annoying than she remembered, and he was a lot less funny than everyone else seemed to think. 

She thought seeing him, hearing him, would make her a lot more angry, and she was, but not at him, she realized. That sudden light bulb of clarity was something she wasn’t expecting. Shit. Why was she more angry at Josie for forgetting her than she was at Landon? Being that she was pretty self-aware, Hope was in awe, because it wasn’t often that she surprised herself. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice she had been spoken to.

“So can I,” Landon finished, “Walk you to your next class, that is?” Hope just stared back, completely oblivious to anything he had previously said. The question came with his usual awkwardness, which Hope once found charming, but now just found irritating. She tried to convey that with her eyes, as she had nothing to say back. It was obvious by the complete lack of confidence and fake concern that his question conveyed that someone had put him up to this. That knowledge was enough for Hope to actually speak. 

“If Josie wants to know how I’m getting along at my new school, she can ask me herself,” and Hope left the room, her anger level at Josie registering a little lower, but that’s only because she thinks some of it had been replaced by…jealousy? Hope didn’t know much about Josie, that was true. She knew she was kind and at times co-dependent and aggravatingly selfless, but she never knew Josie to make the first move. Hope used to observe Josie and Penelope from afar, and it was Penelope who called the shots and Josie who was along for the ride, so she was not at all prepared to bump right into Josie Saltzman while attempting to leave her next class. 

“So,” Josie finally looked Hope in the eye, “how ARE you getting along?” 

Hope scoffed. “Wow. What a prompt response to my answer to your boyfriend’s question,” Hope kept walking. 

“Well, ask and you shall receive,” Josie replied, then quickly followed that up with, “that was cliché, I’m sorry,” her cheeks flushing and her fingers fidgeting once again. “I just,” she tried to explain, “it seems like you don’t want to talk to me, but I do care about how things are going for you.” 

Hope stopped. “Well don’t. Look, I know you and your sister are the balloons and tinsels of the welcoming party here, but I’m not really into being a box you check off on your welcome-to-gifted-school paperwork. You don’t have to pretend to care,” and she walked away from the girl she used to have a crush on, too. 

If it weren’t for her wolf hearing, Hope wouldn’t have heard the note that had just been slipped under her door. She had purposefully missed dinner again, and was looking up some new spells instead. Intrigued just enough to acknowledge it, she read the letter. “Open your door” was all it said. Feeling just adventurous enough to let this play out, she followed the instructions. Waiting outside her door were 2 plates of food, a cup of cocoa, and another note. Hope didn’t need to read it to know who it was from, as her wolf-smell picked up the mix of peppermint and sage that seemed to serenade her senses when Josie was near. She embellished the gesture anyway and unfolded the last clue: a box with a checkmark inside it, followed by the words “Caring about you because I want to and not because I have to.” Hope felt her cheeks puffing out. She was lost in the moment, until she heard a noise down the hall, 2 boys goofing off while going to their room. She quickly picked up her late-night dinner and rushed back into her room, disgusted at the idea that someone may have actually seen her smile, and also happy with the knowledge that notes-under-doors was sort of Josie’s thing, even if she was the only one who remembered that.

After dinner, homework, and a shower, Hope was so tired, but the so tired kind of tired in which you’re too tired to even sleep. She felt delirious, and in her sleep-deprived state she came to a conclusion: She would talk to Josie tomorrow. On purpose. To say thank you. It’s the least she could do. 

Hope somehow slept through her alarm, probably because she had been up most of the night, and barely managed to slip in the door to her classroom as the teacher was closing it. Out of either respect or fear, probably the latter, the seat in the back corner was still available, and she gladly took it. This was a class she shared with Josie, who sat front and center. There were a couple students who obstructed Hope’s view of the younger witch, but she still felt her worried glances when they intermittently came. Hope decided she would stick with her plan: when the class ended, she would thank Josie for the food, thereby ending her guilt of being rude to the over-caring girl. She just didn’t realize it would take so much effort, though, as Josie was the first one out the door and Hope got stuck behind the other students. She had rehearsed this moment, and she was blowing it big time. By the time she got out the door, Josie was cutting a corner. She supposed her gratitude for the girl would just have to wait, and patience was not one of Hope’s strong suits. As she was walking to her next class, completely caught up in re-rehearsing what she would say, Hope walked right into Landon. 

“Whoa,” he smiled awkwardly, “Shouldn’t witches be good with directions?” Hope lifted an eyebrow. “You know, aren’t they pretty important in some spells,” he clarified? 

“I know my cardinal directions, and I consider myself a professional at avoiding people, so it must have been your fault,” Hope quipped. 

“It was, actually,” Landon admitted. “I said your name, twice, but you didn’t respond, so I figured I’d have more success getting your attention as a road block. Didn’t actually expect you to not notice me at all, though. Thought I was being kinda obvious,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Is there a reason you’re stopping particular foot traffic in this hallway,” Hope continued walking. Landon was a step behind her, fumbling over his answer.

“It’s just that…well, I just thought that…can you maybe start eating actual meals,” he finally let it fall out. “Maybe some toast once in a while? A handful of grapes? Even one little piece of popcorn would be an improvement,” he suggested. That was enough for Hope to stop walking. 

“I AM eating. Josie KNOWS I’m eating. She’s been hand-delivering the food to me herself,” Hope huffed.

“Yeah, I know,” Landon sighed. “Worrying about you is taking up a lot of her time, time I’d like to use for us,” he made his intentions known. “Not that I don’t worry about you, too, I do, I care more about you than I think I should, it’s hard to explain, but you’re capable of unpeeling a banana, so…,” he trailed off. Just then, Josie cut the corner.

“There you are,” she looked from Landon to Hope back to Landon. She could tell when Landon first saw Hope, from the way his eyes lingered a little too long and the way he looked back at her as he walked away that Landon was at the very least intrigued by the girl, not that she could be too mad about that. So was she. Her complete lack of jealousy over the matter, though, confirmed to her what she’d already known: she didn’t have any true feelings for Landon. He talked a lot, he filled the silence, he kept her from being lonely, and for that she was thankful, but not in love. “Everything okay?” she asked, as she tried to figure out what they could possibly be talking about.

“Yeah,” Landon answered, “just trying to figure out where Hope can get a compass,” he jabbed her in the side. Great, Josie thought. They have inside jokes. Her smile lessened a little at the realization. “What are you doing in this corridor? Your class is the next one over,” Landon asked. 

“There was just something I needed to drop off…” Josie trailed off, shuffling her books and glancing at Hope. She knew it was vague, and also felt a little foolish because she was beginning to see that her attempts to be kind were unfruitful; the irony only she could scoff at. If Landon wasn’t her happiness, she certainly wouldn’t stand in the way of his, she decided, and walked away without even saying goodbye. 

Hope had to listen to Landon ramble on the rest of the way to their class, where he thankfully sat in his usual seat, far away from her. When she finally made it to her desk, there was a gift waiting for her. She picked up the orange and turned it around in her hand, looking around the class for someone to give themselves away. When nobody seemed suspicious, it finally clicked for Hope: Josie had left the orange. That’s why she left class so quick this morning, so she could go completely out of her way to “drop something off.” Hope allowed herself to smile, knowing that someone was thinking of her, but then her face became haunted by the reality that she must seem so very ungrateful. She hadn’t even managed to say thank you yet. She would go to dinner in the cafeteria, she decided. God, the thought alone made her nauseous, almost as much as Landon’s obvious staring. She finally made eye contact back, simply for the sake of acknowledging how annoying it was. He got the hint, looked away, and shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

Luckily, Landon didn’t bother her once the bell rang, and Hope’s journey to the cafeteria was one she fretted over by herself. Once she got her tray and plopped the bare minimum of food onto it, she didn’t want to stay any longer than she had to, she scanned the cafeteria for Josie. It wasn’t hard to find her, sitting in between Lizzie and Landon, across from MG. Landon was already staring. Hope tentatively sat down beside MG, making all conversation at the table come to a halt. Everyone was just as surprised as she was. She picked up the orange in her hand and gave her best smile to Josie, “Orange you glad I’m eating dinner,” she opted to open with. Everyone else laughed hysterically, but Josie smiled back.

“You manage to be all mysterious and intriguing, and you break your silence with THAT?” Lizzie asks. How cheesy and completely uncool of you. You can’t sit with us.”

Hope wasn’t sure if she was joking or if she meant it, so she sat in silence for a second before firing back: “I have no desire to sit with YOU, she emphasized, doing a sweep of her arm to make sure everyone was included, minus one, “I just wanted to say thank you to Josie. So,” she picked up her tray, “thank you for noticing,” she made sure she made eye contact with Josie as she said it, and then she left, not looking back. Once she had locked her bedroom door, with the lock provided and with magic, just to feel extra safe, she fell dramatically onto her bed. It wasn’t a win but it wasn’t a loss, she decided, as she managed to do the one thing that was on her agenda for the day. She sighed into her cozy comforter, no intention of getting up anytime soon, but there was a faint knock on her door. She wanted so badly to avoid it, but also, as much of a loner as she was and as much as people thought she preferred it that way, the truth was that she also desperately did not want to be alone, she had just gotten really good at it. She undid the magic and the lock on the doorknob and twisted, surprised but also not to see Josie standing there, plate and cocoa in hand.”

“Hey,” Josie smiled sheepishly, “I NOTICED,” she emphasized, “that you didn’t get any dessert, and you can’t have cake without something to follow it,” she lifted the cup of cocoa. Her cheeks, of their own accord, turned red, and as much as she tried to stop it, she couldn’t hide the blush. Hope glanced down and then back into her eyes, obviously seeing it, too. 

“Thank you,” she said, and then realized how redundant she must sound. She has a great vocabulary, but tends to only manage the bare minimum when conversing with Josie, who was still standing expectantly at her door. Hope knew she should invite her in, but that thought also scared her. Choosing to do the right thing, she stepped to the side and swept her hand, letting Josie know she could enter, as she didn’t trust her voice at the moment. Josie smiled shyly and entered, immediately fidgeting with her necklace as soon as Hope’s door was shut. She handed the food over to Hope and decided to break the silence.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I’ve seen you with oranges a couple times, so figured it was a safe choice,” Josie rambled, referring to lunch, “and I know Lizzie can be mean, but it meant a lot to me that you made an effort, at dinner,” she was now shifting her weight from side to side nervously. Hope wasn’t used to having people in her room, let alone pretty girls who genuinely cared about her that she used to have crushes on. “So, I guess that covers the whole day,” Josie looks down and laughs. Hope finally makes a noise, and Josie looks up hopefully, encouraged to keep talking, “Did you and Landon ever find that compass?” Hope rolls her eyes.

“It wasn’t, I don’t need, he just said that because,” she was having a hard time completing a sentence. “I have a habit of running into people in the hallway, as you well know,” she looks down. “He just happened to get hit by the Hope train too," she finishes, immediately embarrassed by her metaphor. She puts a hand to her face. “I’m sorry,” she apologizes in a muffled voice, still in disbelief by the words she lets come out of her mouth. Josie just laughs.

“Don’t be,” she reassures. “The Hope train is better than the MG train, which usually comes with having to pick up whatever stack of comic books he’s currently reading, and much better than the Lizzie train, that runs over people on purpose with no regard for their life. Plus,” she says without thinking, “the Hope train is way prettier.” Her eyes go wide and the room feels overwhelmingly silent. Hope opens and closes her mouth a few times, secretly glad that no words manage to come out. It’s obvious that Josie is completely avoiding looking at her and trying to find a way out of this conversation. “Well, now that I’ve admitted that aside from your nearly nonexistent eating habits, maybe I’ve also noticed how pretty you are, I am going to go anywhere that isn’t here,” Josie honestly gives herself an opening to leave, and does so immediately, rushing out so fast that she leaves the door wide open behind her. 

It was at that moment that Hope’s brain had a thought: If Josie Saltzman didn’t remember that she had a crush on Hope, then Hope would make her remember. Not by bringing back everybody’s memories, no, she didn’t even know if that was possible, but by making her crush all over again, and as soon as she thought it, she knew it was a terrible idea.


	2. Of Muffins and Mindreaders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope stepped into the cafeteria, no intention of staying to eat, and scanned the room. She quickly realized that her first conclusion was a wrong one. Neither Lizzie, MG, Kaleb, or Raphael were there, either. Her concern/jealousy was now a full-blown problem. There was obviously something going on at the school. Being that nobody remembered her, though, she was no longer kept abreast of insider information. Looks like she would be ditching classes today, too. Detective Hope was determined to find out what exactly they were fighting this time, and she knew the first place she was going to look.

Hope knew something was off the second she woke up, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on the what. Two classes into her day, she finally figured out a clue: Neither Josie or Landon were in class today. The latter she didn’t mind, she actually got to listen to the lecture without the weight of him watching her, a welcome reprieve. Josie, on the other hand, was more worrisome, for personal and other reasons. 

Josie always provided an interesting perspective in class, challenged the rest of them to think outside the box, to be more creative with their magic. She wasn’t afraid of playing devil’s advocate, of using spells others would never think of – she was a great problem solver, and those were all things Hope liked about her. Her head, resting in her right hand, found its way to her desk, her forehead hitting a little harder than she intended, when she realized she’d have to show up in the cafeteria, for safety’s sake, she told herself. It had everything to do with making sure Josie was safe and nothing to do with the jealousy that surfaced knowing that Josie and Landon’s absences could be related to each other, that maybe they were having a couple’s day. Gross. 

Hope stepped into the cafeteria, no intention of staying to eat, and scanned the room. She quickly realized that her first conclusion was a wrong one. Neither Lizzie, MG, Kaleb, or Raphael were there, either. Her concern/jealousy was now a full-blown problem. There was obviously something going on at the school. Being that nobody remembered her, though, she was no longer kept abreast of insider information. Looks like she would be ditching classes today, too. Detective Hope was determined to find out what exactly they were fighting this time, and she knew the first place she was going to look.

30 minutes later, and Hope had no new information. Alaric’s office was a bust, and so was the secret meeting room the representatives used to vote, like when they ousted Rick as Headmaster. Her next stop was the basement – there were cells down there to lock up potential threats, so Hope headed that direction. Before she reach her destination, she got confirmation that that’s where they were, as Kaleb’s voice carried up the stairs. 

“I know he looks harmless, Pedro 2.0, but I guarantee that he is, indeed, a monster.”

“I agree,” Landon chimed in, “he’s too cute to only be cute.”

“Well, why don’t we just ask him?” Lizzie suggested. “Hey, kid, what’s your deal? Who are you here to kill? Who are you in demon form?”

“You can’t just ask a bad guy what kind of bad guy he is,” MG imparts. “Don’t you guys read? In the X Men…”

“Not now, MG,” Lizzie cut him off. “It can’ hurt to ask. Maybe he’s a truth-telling demon.”

“I’m not,” the boy’s voice, which was as cute as he apparently looked, came out, “A demon, that is. I’m not a demon or a monster.”

“Of course a monster would say that,” Lizzie crossed her arms and turned her back. “Well, can you give us a hint?” she asked as a last resort.

“Fine,” the boy agreed. “You,” he turned his gaze to Josie, “you should go and check on her. You’re so concerned about whether or not she ate, and you’re about to lose your orange,” he pointed to the fruit that was falling out of Josie’s over-the-shoulder sack. 

“What?” Josie was dumbfounded, blushing slightly as she maneuvered the orange safely back in her bag. 

“And you,” he turned to Landon, “you should tell Josie the truth. Stop debating with yourself, it’s annoying and pointless. Just tell her what you want to tell her.” 

Josie whipped around to face Landon. “You're keeping secrets?" she was genuinely hurt.

“You two can have your lover’s quarrel later,” Lizzie’s eyes went wide. “We have our first clue. This little lad can read minds. As fun as this could be to watch him ruin all our lives, I have to go,” she quickly packed up her stuff. "I don’t like anybody meddling in my mind." Hope panicked. Shit. She’d never make it up the steps in time to not be noticed. She was sifting through her spell repertoire when the boy spoke again.

“And the girl, that you’re so desperate to feed,” his attention was once again on Josie, “she is hungry, but she wants more from you than just food.” Hope almost fell off the stair she was standing on. She hoped no one heard. 

“What does that mean?” Josie asked. The boy sighed and sat down in a corner. “I’m not a monster. I was just curious.” 

“We’ll continue this conversation later,” Lizzie decided, “When our minds are safe from your superpowers,” and Hope heard all their footsteps scuffling toward her. She quickly did a spell and sent herself back to her bedroom. Well fuck. Her first thought was that she could just stay there all day, but she also needed to find out what kind of creature they were dealing with. Telepathy didn’t really narrow down the options in the mythological world. She decided she’d chance a trip to the library and bring back enough books to keep her busy all night, with a pit stop for some snacks. The crew she was spying on should all be back in class by now, or at least doing their own research out of public spaces. 

She made it safely to the kitchen, but let her guard down a little too early, because she crashed right into Josie Saltzman, who was apparently preparing to hoard quite a bit of food. “I’m so sorry,” Hope apologized, nervously putting a strand of hair behind her ear before bending over to help Josie pick up the platter she was attempting to carry. Both of their hands landed on a blueberry muffin, and Josie quickly pulled her hand away, letting Hope have it, glad that her hair was falling in her face to hide the blush the contact brought on. 

“It’s fine,” Josie said, not once looking at Hope throughout their entire encounter. Instead, she was focused on fitting all the food back into her bag. Hope’s hands were still full of bananas and granola bars, and Josie was quickly running out of room.

“Are you fine?” Hope inquired, “You seem a little…”

“I’m fine,” Josie cut her off. Hope hated being ignored, especially when it was by somebody she wanted attention from, though she’d never admit it. She nervously started rocking back and forth, watching Josie put the food in her bag like pieces of a puzzle. 

“Hungry, huh?” Hope tried to make small talk.

“It’s not for me,” Josie blurted out, before she could stop herself. 

“Is it for me?” Hope laughed, “because I’m right here. You don’t have to wait til dinner…”

“Ugh, no,” Josie once again cut her off. 

“Study session?” Hope was trying to narrow down the options when she realized what Josie was doing. She nearly dropped the 3 water bottles and blueberry muffin she was still holding. She fumbled with them enough for Josie to notice.

“Here, I’ll, let me get those, I’m so sorry,” Josie stepped closer, as she and Hope tried to exchange goods. Their hands inevitably touched a few times. Hope wanted so badly to offer to help Josie, but also did not want to be in the presence of a mindreader who had no problem ratting her out. “Thank you, bye,” Josie was obviously distracted. 

Hope stood still, trying to unpack what just happened, when Josie stopped in her tracks and backpedaled toward her. “You should keep this,” she handed the blueberry muffin to Hope, “unless…there’s something else you want?” Hope blushed, mouth opening in surprise. The usually shy Josie had Hope pinned down with her gaze. Was she…mad? “Like, oh I don’t know, maybe…Landon?” 

Hope's eyes got noticeably wider. Josie wasn’t flirting. Hope was devastated and then as angry as Josie appeared to be. Hope finally let herself breathe. Josie hadn’t taken the boy’s insight as Hope liking her, but as Hope wanting to take Landon from her. Fuck. How could she salvage this? 

“Eww,” was what she decided to go with, as her eloquence wasn’t really something she was known for, anyway. “Josie, no,” Hope chanced a step closer to the girl, who instinctively stepped back. 

“Landon’s keeping secrets. Have you two…I mean…do you like him, because if…”

“No. NO,” Hope re-emphasized. "I do not like Landon. Why would you think that?” she tried to get Josie to tell her about the boy. Josie looked at the floor, anger receding, hands fidgeting.

“Just something somebody said, that I maybe might have misinterpreted,” Josie looked at Hope again, not angrily this time, but curiously. “Is there anything, is there something else,” Josie shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously, “can I help you with anything?” she decided was the safest, most non-weird way to ask.

Hope’s mind was racing. How could she ease the girl’s fears but not be suspicious? “Well, there is one thing,” Hope started, having no idea what that one thing was or what was going to come out of her mouth. Josie smiled in anticipation. “I just, I uhm…” Hope was stuttering to buy time. “Your friends don’t like me.”

“That’s not true,” Josie interrupted, and Hope was thankful for that. “MG thinks you’re okay, and Raphael likes you.” Josie bumped Hope’s shoe with hers, “Raphael likes you a lot.”

“Oh,” Hope replied. Ohhhhh. Shit, no. 

“If you come to dinner this evening, I could introduce you properly,” Josie suggested. She was smiling, but Hope could tell it wasn’t 100% genuine. 

“No, no thank you,” this was going in a completely different direction than Hope had intended. “That’s not what I was, that’s not what I, nevermind,” she fidgeted with her muffin, desperately wanting to get out of this conversation.

“Wait, I’m sorry,” Josie said as Hope tried to leave. “I didn’t mean to make you feel awkward. God, I went from accusing you of liking my boyfriend to trying to set you up with a friend in a matter of seconds, you must think I’m crazy.”

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy,” Hope assured her. “I just need to go.”

“Right,” Josie sadly agreed. “But – you never told me what I could help you with,” her voice was barely audible and Hope couldn’t leave her hanging. “Please, I’ll listen this time, without interrupting,” Josie’s need to hear her answer was genuine and sincere. Hope spun the muffin around in her hand.

“Your friends don’t like me,” she tried again, rolling her eyes for emphasis, hoping to put Raphael to rest, “and I don’t want to eat alone all the time, but I also don’t feel welcome with anyone,” she answered honestly, ashamed that she let herself have that moment of vulnerability. Hope could tell Josie felt what she had said, as her eyes really were the windows to what she was feeling. Josie was not great at pretending. “I was thinking maybe once a week, maybe you and I could, maybe we could eat together, so you don’t have to keep worrying about me all the time and I don’t have to hang out in my room so much?” Hope couldn’t believe she was reaching out to Josie so personally. What was supposed to be an attempt to ease Josie’s fears wasn’t supposed to be a selfish attempt to spend more time with her, but two birds, one stone and all of that, so Hope just shrugged. 

“Hope, yes, of course,” Josie wrapped her in a hug. Hope stopped breathing. “Thank you for reaching out to me and being honest. Yes, we can eat together. I’ll meet you at the dock every day for dinner, and we can work up to eating in the cafeteria,” Josie suggested, already caught up in helping. Hope waved her hand to get Josie’s attention.

“Every day?” Hope asked. “Once a week is fine, I’m not sure about every day.”

“It’s fine,” Josie cut her off. “I want to be there for you, consistently, especially if you’re struggling.” Josie framed her intentions in an altruistic way, but if she was being honest with herself, it was a little bit personal, a way to see Hope every day. Hope plastered a smile on her face. Fuck. This was good, right? After all, she was supposed to be making Josie crush on her. In order to do that, that would involve face to face interactions, but daily? She was in too deep, too fast. Josie squeezed her arm on her way out the door, sincerely smiling, an obvious pep in her step. Hope nodded her goodbye. This plan is shit.


	3. Of Docks and Doughnuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope was stunned. She was sure, after today, that Josie would give up on her, but here she was, digging her heels in deeper, sitting politely on Hope’s floor, making future plans. Hope sat, foraging through the food, hungrier than she wanted to be, and crushing harder than she should. This was not the plan, Mikaelson, she berated herself. You’re supposed to be making Josie fall for you, you’re not supposed to be falling for her.

Josie was already at the dock when Hope got there, to no surprise of Hope’s. Josie was nothing if not punctual and always prepared. What was surprising, though, was the blanket and picnic basket that Josie brought along with her. With the sun setting across the lake, it felt oddly romantic. Hope knew she should take advantage of that, but she was so nervous she could barely think. Or maybe she was…scared? She didn’t have time to decide, as Josie noticed her presence and motioned her closer, shyly smiling herself.

“I just grabbed a few things, I hope you like at least one of them,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, although the slight breeze that was blowing blew it right back out. “And drink options,” Josie continued, looking embarrassingly at the basket she now knelt beside.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” Hope knelt, too, blushing because Josie not only followed through with their arrangement, but cared enough to bring options. She actually took the time to be thoughtful, and that made Hope feel…special. Josie made Hope feel special.

“Whatever you don’t want, I’ll take,” Josie broke the silence, in the most unselfish, Josie way possible. Hope had an unfair advantage, though, because even though Josie didn’t remember Hope, Hope knew all about Josie, and would be lying if she said she didn’t pay attention to Josie’s like and dislikes.

“You can have the pinwheels, yogurt, and strawberry milkshake,” Hope sorted the food, “I’ll take the pasta salad, watermelon, and vanilla.” Josie beamed at Hope’s decision, unaware that Hope wasn’t really playing fair.

“Oh, and I brought doughnuts for dessert,” Josie was so proud of herself. Hope smiled. This was nice, and much easier than she anticipated. Josie was comfortable to be around. Hope just wished Josie was the only one she had to be around.

“I can’t believe you’re having a picnic without me,” Lizzie threw herself down between them, taking Josie’s milkshake and Hope’s salad. “Eew, strawberry? Josie, we’ve talked about this,” Lizzie judged, handing the milkshake back. “I don’t know what’s worse – your choice of nourishment, or company,” she criticized, turning her attention to Hope. “A little Pedro-like birdie told me that you’re attempting to take something from my sister, and you should know that I will never let that happen. I know Josie’s an easy target because she’s kind and has a weakness for pretty girls…”

“Lizzie, that’s not…” Josie tried to interrupt, but Lizzie ignored her.

“But I can see right through you and your manipulative agenda. Stay. Away,” Lizzie emphasized the last 2 words, taking the entire picnic basket with her as she left. “Find another person to use your misguided intentions on,” she called over her shoulder.

Hope wished she’d never come. She was both angry and embarrassed – angry at being accused of using Josie and having a hidden agenda, and embarrassed because Lizzie wasn’t entirely wrong. Despite Josie’s protests, Hope hurried back to her room. What a fucking disaster.

Josie felt stuck. She was trying to get to know Hope better, to the disapproval of Lizzie, she was in a relationship with a boy she only truly felt platonic feelings for, who happened to be keeping a secret from her, the truth of which she wasn’t ashamed to say she was just outright avoiding. She had no desire to see Landon or have that conversation, but there was one boy that she did want to see and enjoyed speaking with, so she folded up her blanket and headed to the basement. His voice reach her before she made it to the bottom step.

“I don’t know which one we should address first – your boy problem or your girl problem,” the young boy stood and walked toward the metal bars he was entrapped in.

“Neither,” Josie placed her blanket on the table and handed him a doughnut. “Both,” she sighed and sat.

“I’m guessing that means you followed up on my previous mind-reading musings,” the boy bit into the doughnut, happy to have somebody to talk to.

“I haven’t talked to Landon, and Hope did want something – to ease into socializing and out of isolation.” Josie put her head on the table in frustration.

“Interesting,” the boy’s gaze lingered on Josie whose head shot up at his choice of words. She looked back, expectantly awaiting on him to elaborate. “It’s just, that is a truth, but not the truth I was referring to. Clever girl,” he turned to walk within his walls.

“So, that’s not what she wants?” Josie asked for clarification.

“Oh, she does want to abate her loneliness and indulge her pack yearnings,” the boy stood in a sliver of sunlight that shone through the window, manipulating it to make figures on the wall. Josie missed his implication that Hope was a werewolf. He genuinely smiled, enjoying himself.

“Interesting talent,” Josie observed, mentally noting another power the boy possessed.

“And you are a wonderful human to provide comfort and companionship to a lonely soul,” he continued, dropping his hands and turning back to face her. “But, although not dishonest, the answer she provided you was just a tool to get what she really wants. Good at smoke and mirrors she is, I see,” he attempted a cartwheel, clumsy but with such joy. Josie wanted so badly to let the boy out, to take him to the field to run free, to divulge in the dock, to feel the sun freely, not through a window pane.

“So she lied?” Josie was visibly upset. “No, she just didn’t tell you the right truth,” the boy started hopping on one leg, grinning. His blue eyes never stopped twinkling, so much different from Hope’s, that always looked like the sky right before a storm. Josie was getting frustrated having to ask so many questions and not really getting an answer. 

"You’ll have to ask HER,” the boy read her mind. Fine, Josie thought, that’s just what she’d do.

After taking 2 hours to do one page of homework, entirely distracted by Lizzie’s words and how cute Josie looked today, and spending 27 minutes in the shower, Hope’s anger had finally dissipated and she thought she might sneak to the kitchen to finally eat some dinner. She put on some pajamas – sweatpants and a t-shirt, ran the towel over her wet hair one more time, and slipped on some socks to protect her feet from the cold, bare floor. She swung her door open to find a mid-knock Josie on the other side. She looked like she hadn’t really made up her mind yet as to whether she wanted to knock or not.

“Hey, Hope,” Josie tried to explain, somehow looking beautiful in some cotton shorts, tank top, and untied robe. It was then that Hope noticed what was in her other hand – the picnic basket from earlier. “I was hoping maybe we could finish dinner? I’m really hungry,” Josie pouted, and Hope knew that she couldn’t say no to that expression.

“Sure, come in,” she swung her door farther open so Josie could walk through. She peered around the corner to see who might be spying in the hall, an action that did not go unnoticed by Josie.

“Lizzie isn’t here,” Josie tried to help Hope relax, “she went into town tonight, date with a student from Mystic Falls High. Maybe we could do that sometime,” Josie continued, immediately freezing in place, the implication of what she said hanging in the air. “Go into town sometime,” she was finally able to move, spreading out the blanket on Hope’s floor, “for dinner, not a date,” she kept her eyes on the ground and busied herself with unpacking the basket.

Hope was stunned. She was sure, after today, that Josie would give up on her, but here she was, digging her heels in deeper, sitting politely on Hope’s floor, making future plans. Hope sat, foraging through the food, hungrier than she wanted to be, and crushing harder than she should. This was not the plan, Mikaelson, she berated herself. You’re supposed to be making Josie fall for you you’re not supposed to be falling for her.

“Lizzie left us some watermelon and yogurt, I see,” she finally spoke. Josie pulled out the rest of the platter,

“I also made us some grilled cheese and a smoothie. There was only enough for one smoothie, but I brought 2 straws,” Josie beamed. Hope’s heart melted more than the cheese that was still oozing out of the bread. She ate half her sandwich in one bite. She could get used to this, a girlfriend who cared about her and cooked for her and came back even when she shouldn’t. Except Josie wasn’t her girlfriend and Hope wasn’t sure to what extent she cared, and Hope knew it was just part of her nature to push people until they voluntarily stayed away.

“Can I ask you a question?” Josie asked from her now laying-down position on Hope’s floor.

“Sure,” Hope mimicked Josie’s actions and laid down herself, but not before sucking down half the smoothie.

“Can I trust you?” Josie stilled for a moment before turning her head toward Hope. Despite feeling Josie’s gaze, Hope couldn’t bring herself to look back at the girl. That was a loaded, complicated question – trust her with what? Insider information that she happened to already know, Josie’s deepest, darkest secrets, the latest gossip amongst the girls, her heart? She needed some specificity here. She felt like the safest answer was to kick the question back to Josie, so she did.

“What do you think?” she finally met the girl’s gaze, blue eyes trying to compel brown ones to believe, brown eyes searching blue for the truth. Hope held her breath, she wondered if Josie noticed. Josie looked down at her fidgeting fingers before answering.

“I think that there is a child locked in the basement who can read minds and, a new development, can also manipulate light, and we need all the help we can get to figure out who he is.” Hope exhaled. It wasn’t the personal answer that she was hoping for, but Josie was inviting her into the Super Squad, entrusting her with secret information, and asking for her help, and Hope knew that was a huge first step. She was sure Josie was doing all of these things unbeknownst to the others, but she’d take a win where she could get it.

“I also think that you lied to me,” Josie turned her attention back to Hope, and Hope couldn’t read her expression, but she didn’t need to, because Josie elaborated. “I asked you if there was anything you wanted from me, and you told me this,” Josie moved her hands around the room and the food for emphasis, “but that’s not the whole truth,” she began packing up the picnic, and Hope wasn’t sure what to say. ‘You’re right’ probably would have been a good place to start, but Hope couldn’t turn that thought into actual words. Josie turned before she reach Hope’s door, “Please don’t ever do that again.”

Although she said please, the word was misleading, as it was more of a threat than a plea. Josie was upset. Hope was in disbelief. Damn that mindreading boy.

Hope was perfectly comfortable with being the hero, but entirely insecure about making amends. How does one apologize to the girl you’re supposed to be making fall for you, when, in reality, it was the other way around? Flowers weren’t Hope’s thing, and neither were immaculate speeches or public gestures or even private apologies. Shit. How did she screw it up so bad? As is she wasn’t frantic enough, Lizzie Saltzman was standing in her door, rendering her immovable with her gaze.

“Apparently, you’re not good at taking advice, so let me make a very clear threat,” Lizzie walked right into Hope’s personal space, completely ignoring the bubble-distance rule, towering down on her with a glare Hope didn’t want to be the recipient of for long. “Stay away from my sister. I’m not sure what you did, but I know whatever happened is your fault. I can’t make Josie stop caring about you, because that’s just who she is, but I can make her see how horrible you are and I can ruin you in an instant, so make it right,” she finally stood down and took a step back.

Hope crinkled her brow. “So should I stay away, or should I make it right, because you’re sending mixed messages…”

Lizzie cut her off, shouting furiously. “MAKE IT RIGHT, MIKAELSON, AND THEN STAY AWAY.” Lizzie slammed her door as she sashayed out. Hope fell face-first on her bed. She needed a peace offering to placate Josie. She tried to think, but she couldn’t concentrate over the sound of her growling stomach. It was probably the hunger pains talking but she came to a conclusion: Hope would take Josie breakfast in bed, those doughnuts that they didn’t get to eat. Lizzie could have one, too, and she could see that Hope was trying. The twins would love it, right?


	4. Of Mornings and Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Now it’s my turn to apologize,” Josie tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt, “Lizzie is not a morning person. Or afternoon, or evening,” Josie continued, laughing, drawing a smile out of Hope. “I, however, like mornings best,” Josie beamed, taking a bite of donut, in much too good of a mood for anybody up at 7 A.M., but Hope wasn’t surprised. “What about you?” Josie asked, muffled by the donut she had now finished.
> 
> “Oh, I…prefer the moon,” Hope answered safely, taking another step into the twins’ room.

Hope slipped the note under the door as quietly as she could, anxious to see her plan play out. It was Lizzie who found it.

“Josie, someone left a note for you. I swear if this is MG trying to play some comic book game again, I’ll…” Josie snatched the note out of Lizzie’s hands, unfolding it as quickly as she could. 

“Whatever you do, donut open the door,” Josie read aloud. 

“MG, it is too early for this…” Lizzie stopped mid-sentence, swinging the door open to find Hope instead. “Oh. It’s you. Even worse,” she grimaced. “What do you want?” Hope held out the box of donuts, looking past Lizzie to Josie. 

“I thought we could do breakfast today instead of dinner, since it’s Friday, and you probably have something better to do tonight. Also,” the vulnerable situation she had voluntarily put herself in followed by how embarrassed she truly was caught up to her, and Hope stumbled over her words, way less confident in herself now, “I owe you an apology. I thought apologies might go well with powdered sugar,” she offered the box of donuts to Josie, still maintaining a safe distance outside the door. Hope watched as Josie’s anger melted away right there on the spot, replaced by the cutest morning smile, made even more adorable by the fact that Josie had not yet brushed her hair. 

“Of course. Come in, Hope,” Josie dragged her into the room. “This is really sweet of you, and I know how hard this must be for you,” Josie looked down and back up, smiling appreciatively.

“Oh please,” Lizzie interrupted. “There is nothing sweet about apologizing for something that you should be apologizing for, and then waking us up early just to do so. Where’s that apology?” Lizzie turned to the mirror to finish getting ready.

Hope thought she went through every possible scenario regarding how this moment could play out before deciding to write the note, but clearly she did not account for the witch that was Lizzie Saltzman. Witch, witch, because right now she was being both. She bit her jaw and smiled at the floor before turning to leave. 

“Don’t go,” Josie’s voice came out just above a whisper. “Lizzie’s the one who can leave. I still need to get ready, anyway.”

“Gladly,” Lizzie pulled a cardigan over her white button-up and walked toward the door. “They’re probably stale anyway,” and she closed the door harder than necessary.

“Now it’s my turn to apologize,” Josie tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt, “Lizzie is not a morning person. Or afternoon, or evening,” Josie continued, laughing, drawing a smile out of Hope. “I, however, like mornings best,” Josie beamed, taking a bite of donut, in much too good of a mood for anybody up at 7 A.M., but Hope wasn’t surprised. “What about you?” Josie asked, muffled by the donut she had now finished.

“Oh, I…prefer the moon,” Hope answered safely, taking another step into the twins’ room. She hesitantly took a donut herself and sat on the edge of a bed.

“Do you mind if I get dressed in here?” Josie asked, “the bathroom is always so busy in the morning and I usually dress here anyway.”

“No, of course,” Hope’s palms were sweating as she respectfully turned her back, and came face to face with the mirror. Fuck, she thought. Don’t do it, Mikaelson. She attempted to make conversation to distract herself from taking a peek. “Would you mind if I talked to the boy in the basement today? I have some theories, but I think I need to see for myself.” Hope knew she needed no one’s permission, but she was also on thin ice with Josie and didn’t want to keep any secrets that she didn’t have to.

“Sure,” Josie answered, taking her pajama top off. “What were you thinking?” Josie’s voice brought Hope’s head up, as she instinctively looked over her shoulder to answer, instantly regretting her body’s socialized response and kicking herself for not being able to control it, as she saw the t-shirt swoop over Josie’s hair as she was taking it off. Hope ordered her eyes back to the floor, where she hoped they stayed for the rest of this conversation. 

“It’s a lot to narrow down, honestly, but telepathy and photokinesis help. Just thought I could evaluate the situation a little more.” 

“Of course,” Josie buckled her skirt. I could go with you if you…” Hope cut her off.

“No.” That came out little meaner than she intended. “No, I should go by myself.” Her tone made Josie stop moving. “Josie,” Hope turned completely toward her, cursing herself the entire time, but it would be too awkward to change course now, and she really wanted Josie to hear this. It was really hard to concentrate, though, when Josie’s shirt was still unbuttoned. “Josie,” Hope tried again, looking at the ceiling instead of at Josie, “I know you don’t trust me and you think I lied to you, but I didn’t, not really. Avoiding the truth is not the same as lying about it, and I’m not ready to tell anyone the answer to the question you asked me, not even myself,” she closed her eyes so she wouldn’t cry, “so, can you just…I don’t know, not hate me for that?” Hope couldn’t believe she had actually said it out loud, but she felt so relieved that she had, and also completely nauseous, because she didn’t know how Josie was going to respond, so she kept her eyes closed and waited, the sound of her own breathing echoing in her eardrums. Hope felt soft skin on her hand and realized Josie was untangling the fingers that she had balled into a fist.

“Hey,” Josie’s voice was soft and concerned, “I don’t hate you, Hope.” Their fingers were completely intertwined now. Hope opened her eyes. Josie squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry I pushed you for an answer you weren’t ready to give. I know the feeling,” Josie shyly smiled. “Lizzie outed me to our dad when we were younger, and that was a horrible feeling, to have to admit something I hadn’t even allowed myself to accept yet. Luckily,” she pulled on Hope’s arm, making the girl take another step toward her, “he took it well, and it made all the difference. Whenever you’re ready,” Josie put a hand on each of Hope’s shoulder, never breaking eye contact, “I’ll be here to listen,” and she pulled Hope into a hug. Hope was in shock. Usually when she envoked the emotion of anger, she was met with anger in return, but here she was, being consoled by a completely understanding, not-mad, comforting Josie Saltzman. “Besides,” Josie broke the hug, “You aren’t the only one who has a truth to tell, and I’m finally ready to hear Landon’s.” Hope flinched. Right. Josie still had a boyfriend. She had forgotten that very important detail. 

“W-well,” she stammered, “I will leave you to it then,” and she tried not to show her disappointment as she left. She didn’t want to dwell on Josie and Landon, though, because she had her own boy problem to deal with, and with that Hope headed to the basement to finally meet the mindreader himself.


	5. Of Truths and Trains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope tried to fake a smile, guessing that the talk with Landon went well after all. She should be glad, right, that he didn’t break her heart? She should be a lot of things, she told herself, but falling for Josie Saltzman isn’t one of them. She closed her eyes. Focus, Hope. You have a mindreader to manipulate.

Josie met up with Landon outside the door of his first class. “Can we talk?” she asked empathetically, knowing that Landon had been last on her list lately. 

“As long as the thing we talk about isn’t Hope,” Landon half-smiled. Josie deserved that. She hadn’t been the best girlfriend lately, unreasonably preoccupied with Hope, she now acknowledged, and spending way too much time with the other boy in her life, the one that she didn’t need to explain herself to. 

“I’m sorry for being so caught up in my curiosities lately. I’d actually like to talk about you,” she full-smiled back. Josie’s smile was hard to hold a grudge against, and Landon leaned himself up against the wall, eager for the change of subject. “I also need to apologize for accusing you of lying to me, or at least, keeping secrets. I’ve come to realize there’s a difference,” she started to ramble. Landon reach for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Josie took time to breathe before continuing. “I just want you to know that if there’s anything you want or need to talk about, that I’m here to listen, when you’re ready.” Landon appreciated Josie’s patience and willingness to meet him where he’s at, but he rubbed his neck indecisively.

“I do want to talk to you. I need to talk to you, or someone, at least, about what I’m thinking, or…more accurately…feeling,” his eyes got so big and bright. Josie didn’t know whether to be excited or scared, but she gave him an affirmative nod to let him know to continue. “And I know I’m the one who said that Hope was off-topic, but, since we’re being honest with each other, I need to bring the Hope topic back on the table.” 

Josie’s lips unconsciously pouted. She knew it. She knew there was something between them, but she didn’t want to jump to conclusions and make out-of-line assumptions.

“There’s something between us,” Landon confirmed. The confession made Josie stop breathing. She thought perhaps her heart even skipped a beat. Two people that she liked, and neither of them liked her back. Fuck her life. Her mind was racing, but mostly she was just trying not to cry. She should say something, she realized.

“Oh,” she felt her lip quiver a bit.

“Oh,” Landon echoed. “Oh – oh, no,” he grasped Josie’s shoulders. “No, not like we’ve been seeing each other or making out or anything, and not that I want to,” he shook his head to try to convince himself more than Josie, honestly. “I mean – what I mean is that, doesn’t she feel familiar to you? Do you ever get de ja vu around her? Do you ever feel like you actually know her and that she’s not new here? It’s like, it’s like in Green Lantern when…” he tried to find an example to better explain to Josie, but he didn’t need to, because she knew exactly what he meant.

“Yeah, Landon,” she tried to interrupt, “LANDON,” she finally got his attention, as he was caught up in his comic book metaphor. “I feel a,” she tried to explain as best she could, "one-sided connection to her, too.” She didn’t mean for it to come out as disappointed as it did. It didn’t go unnoticed by Landon.

“So, it seems like Hope will be in the conversation for quite a while,” he pointed out the obvious.

“She doesn’t have to be,” Josie was ready to play second fiddle again. “If you, if you,” she couldn’t even look him in the eye because what she was about to say hurt so much, “If you’d like to…explore…your connection with her, I’m willing to let you do that. If you feel what I feel, then I don’t want to stand in your way.”

Landon looked at Josie with such love. He knew that he wasn’t in love with Josie, but in this moment he loved her with his whole heart. She was too good and too kind and too selfless to not get what she deserved. 

“And I’m wiling to do the same for you,” Landon knew that Josie wasn’t quite ready to accept WHAT the connection she felt to Hope was, but it wasn’t hard for him to see, and he was more than happy to give her a nudge. “If we’re both feeling this…thing, then there’s something to it. Something is going on that we can’t yet comprehend, but I know together we can figure it out,” he offered her his hand in partnership. Josie rolled her eyes and happily shook it. 

“So, is this us officially breaking up?” Landon let her hand go, more disappointed than he thought he’d be. Sure, they were both just filling a void, but he did like Josie. He enjoyed talking to her and spending time with her, and kissing her, even. How lucky he was to have a relationship that ended in no regrets.

“I think so,” Josie seemed sad, too, but only because she was worried she was hurting Landon’s feelings. “Thank you,” she felt the need to say, even though both of them knew they weren’t really meant for each other. They were good for each other, sure – helpful in healing each other’s pain, great listeners, both good at giving advice, there for each other in times of need, and intimate in a non-sexual way. Josie was genuinely grateful for that. Landon laughed at Josie, and then she laughed at herself.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Landon asked. 

“Well, the boy that we are cruelly keeping in the basement seems to have a lot of answers,” Josie offered up an option, “because Hope sure isn’t spilling.” Josie shrugged, “Feels kinda familiar, though, right? Kinda seems like a Hope thing to do.” Landon agreed, and then he put his arm around Josie and walked her to their classroom, just in time for Hope to see. 

Hope tried to fake a smile, guessing that the talk with Landon went well after all. She should be glad, right, that he didn’t break her heart? She should be a lot of things, she told herself, but falling for Josie Saltzman isn’t one of them. She closed her eyes. Focus, Hope. You have a mindreader to manipulate. 

The boy seemed happy to see her. 

“Finally, some company,” his smile was sincere and his excitement made Hope almost smile herself. 

“I’m sorry that you’re stuck here,” Hope genuinely apologized. “We just have to figure out why you’re here, what you want, and how to get you home,” she passed him some food and a drink between the metal bars.

“If I talk about me, then can we talk about you?” the boy asked with intrigue. 

“Sure,” Hope agreed, thinking she handled the telekinesis situation.

“Since you put a blocking spell on your thoughts, I suppose I’ll just have to ask questions,” the boy finished his meal. Hope was a little surprised that the boy could recognize and identify spells, though she didn’t show it. 

“I suppose we should start with your name,” Hope begins the exchange.

“My name is Pax,” the boy levitates around the cell. Hope adds it to the list of abilities she already knows about him.

“So you’re a Fae?” She always preferred to get right to the point. The boy turned to face her, put his feet back on the ground, and walked to the front of the cell, staring almost through Hope, it seemed.

“Yes,” he answered, nearly crying. “Can you help me get back home?” The emotion caught Hope off guard, though it always did. It wasn’t really on her list of attributes. Since she rarely showed any herself, she had no idea how to respond to it in others.

“How, or…or why are you here?” It could be accidental, or it could be on purpose, and if it was the latter, she needed to find out the reason behind it. The Fae weren’t know for being a threat to humans, but she was eager to get more information.

“I was just curious,” he seemed exhausted. “I just wanted to know about the human world before I took my oath, so I created a portal to come here. I didn’t really expect to happen immediately upon other magical beings that would imprison me. Wasn’t part of the plan,” he exhaled what seemed like the last of his patience. 

“Your…oath?” Hope took note of his clothing. “Pax, are you part of the royal Fae family?” 

The boy attempted to create a portal, but wasn’t strong enough to make it stay. “Well, I’m supposed to be,” he laughed at his own circumstance. “Prince Pax is what they would call me if I were home right now.” He turned to face the back of the cell, then swiftly back around to face Hope again. “As much as I want to go, though, I can’t do that just yet. I had no reason to come here, but now I do have a reason to stay.” Hope crinkled her eyebrows. So, he did have an agenda? Instead of asking, she just waited for the boy to continue. The less she had to socialize, the better.

“I can’t leave without knowing what happens with you and Josie.”

“What?” Hope laughed, brushing of both the blush that came to her cheeks and the boy’s words. 

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Pax was almost offended. “I can tell that you did a spell to protect your thoughts, the only problem is, I can still read them. I’m stronger than I look,” his boyish smile showed the cutest dimples as he flexed a non-muscular arm for emphasis. “Do you plan on asking me what you want to, or do you just expect me to tell you for free?

Hope didn’t want to seem over-eager or pathetic, but she did want to know. She needed to know. She struggled with her own thoughts, ashamed to admit that her plan was a failure and instead of making Josie fall for her she was actually falling for Josie. Josie, who had a boyfriend, she reminded herself.

“That she is not in love with,” Pax filled in some blanks. Hope’s eyes met his. She finally blinked after 10 seconds of disbelief. “Josie does have a current crush, though,” Pax played coy, slowly walking around his cell. “Same as her past crush,” he continued to connect the dots. “In fact, Josie’s crush has never went away,” the boy stopped right in front of Hope, hands gripping the bars, poignantly picking his time for what he was about to say, “even when you did.” 

Hope’s breath hitched. Pax watched her reaction, reading her thoughts in case they’d be useful later. It took Hope a few seconds to figure out what he was doing, but when she did, she flew up the steps as fast as she could without the help of magic. She didn’t stop until she reach her room, out of breath and completely unsure of how to process what she had just learned. She sat on the floor to stop the room from spinning. 20 minutes later, she still hadn’t moved, but she was forced to, as there was a knock on her door.

“Hope?” she heard Josie call from the other side. Fuck. She opened the door as polite as possible, despite the storm swirling inside of her. She tried not to make eye contact when she opened the door, afraid that maybe Josie could read her mind, too. 

“Just wanted to see how your meeting with the young boy went today,” Josie put some plates on Hope’s nightstand,” nervously fidgeting with her fingers once there was nothing to busy them. “I noticed you weren’t at dinner, and I almost didn’t make it there on time myself, so there wasn’t much to choose from,” she explained her artwork-by-food. “So, I tried to be creative,” she blushed. 

For the first time, Hope noticed the odd placement of the food on her plate. There was a banana in between 4 round cuts of cucumber.

“Ugh, that’s the Hope train,” Josie tried to say without laughing, actively avoiding looking at Hope now. “Just to remind you that, when you’re ready, I’d like to know where it’s been and where it’s going.” She chanced a glance at Hope, realizing the girl hadn’t said a word since she opened the door. Hope realized it, too, and went to grab the plate just as Josie went to leave, and they gently ran into each other, both apologizing profusely while inches apart. “So,” Josie pulled the sleeves of her cardigan down over her fingertips that had just grazed Hope’s hand, “it’s not much, but I hope it helps,” and she continued her exit. 

Hope couldn’t breathe until seconds after Josie left, so she hurriedly yelled down the hallway, “Thank you,” and Josie looked back, gave Hope a smile, and waved goodnight. Hope shut her door and smiled. She almost didn’t want to eat the food, a reminder that somebody cared about her enough to do something so silly yet sweet. Her stomach made the decision for her, though, and she grinned until it was gone. 

She knew she had a decision to make, though. She now had confirmation that Josie had a crush on her, that Josie still had a crush on her, that Josie’s crush on her had never went away. She should use that to her advantage. It was at that moment that Hope decided: Tomorrow, she would flirt with Josie Saltzman.


	6. Of Flirting and Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She had called Josie Saltzman cute. To her face. She could never leave her room again.

Hope was up early, to look presentable, she told herself, but mainly so she could rehearse what she planned on saying to Josie. Although, she sat down on the edge of her bed, she didn’t want it to come off as rehearsed, so it had to sound natural. She needed to memorize what she would say, then play it cool and smooth when the moment actually arrived. She began pacing the room, trying to come to a consensus on what to say. 

“Can I follow you? My mom told me to follow my dreams,” she said out loud, and then immediately regretted it. Too stalker-ish and now she was suddenly sad. She sat down on the floor, back resting on her bed, and accepted the memories of her mom as they flooded in, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes until the memories drifted away and her cheeks were wet. She sighed and wiped them away, exasperated. 

Think, Mikaelson, she berated herself, only to be interrupted by loud voices outside. She looked at her clock. Shit. Class started in 10 minutes and she still had on pajamas. 

Hope quickly changed into her uniform and ran down the hallway, ripping her ponytail out and finger-combing her hair as she cut the corner to class. She stopped outside the door to catch her breath. She was only two minutes late. She knew when she opened the door all eyes would be on her, so she fixed her gaze on the floor and twisted the knob. 

Hope was perfectly content avoiding everyone else’s eyes, but there was one person who whittled her willpower enough to make her stop staring at her own feet, and my goodness was Josie worth the quick glance. Their eyes only met for a second, but it made Hope’s whole day. She took her seat in the back corner as the teacher finished explaining the apparent group project they were about to start. Hope wasn’t paying much attention, but desks began scuttling around the room and the noise level increased to an unbearable level, for Hope’s preference-of-silence barometer. 

“So, do you want to?” she realized Landon had asked her a question. “We could use another person to take us from a pair to an official group,” he grinned. Hope finally understood what he was asking – for her to work with him and Josie on this project. 

“Oh,” the tone in which she said that simple word implied everything she felt about the offer. Josie took the hint that was not intended toward her and looked down at herd desk, pursing her lips. The last thing Hope wanted was to work with Josie and her boyfriend, that she did not love, Hope reminded herself, but boyfriend none the less. “Sure,” she found herself agreeing. Fuck. Josie’s head shot up.

“Really?” she grinned the sweetest grin. 

“Yep, uh-huh, yes,” Hope was trying to convince herself as well as Josie. What a nightmare she thought, and then looked at Josie, who smiled at her in the most excited way. A beautiful nightmare, Hope corrected herself, and couldn’t help but smile back. How the hell was she supposed to concentrate in a group project with Josie Saltzman, who smiles like that, and smells like that, and probably tastes like…she stopped herself.

Hope needed to look anywhere but at Josie, so she turned her head to the left…and came face to face with an equally excited Landon. She gave him a tolerant grimace that could not be misinterpreted and decided to look down at her textbook instead. Thankfully, Landon started talking to another student, giving Josie and Hope and opportunity to play steal-a-glance with either other and dopily smile, waiting for the other to break the ice. It was Josie who did.

“So,” Josie shyly made eye contact with Hope, “Are you going to the bonfire tonight?” She handed Hope a flyer about the event. 

“Um, no,” Hope answered. “Voluntary social engagement isn’t really my thing.”

“Oh, come on,” Josie poked Hope’s arm, “Don’t be a square.” 

“As opposed to what,” Hope played along, “a triangle?”

“I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a triangle,” Josie full-on grinned, content that Hope wasn’t completely closed down. This is your chance, Mikaelson, Hope gave herself a pep talk, flirt with her, you coward.

“Well if you were a triangle, you’d be acute one,” was what came out of Hope’s mouth. Oh my God. She immediately stopped smiling. Why, Mikaelson, why? Her cheeks were turning red from embarrassment. When she looked at Josie she noticed her cheeks were red as well and that she was nervously fumbling with a pencil that she clumsily dropped on the floor. This got Landon’s attention, and for once, Hope was happy to have him there.

“What did I miss?” he innocently asked, looking from Hope to Josie and back again, finding it easy to connect the dots. “Ah, I see,” he decided to help them out, “One of you complimented the other, and now neither one of you knows what to say.” He looked back and forth between them again, as they were obviously avoiding eye contact with each other. “You should go to the bonfire,” Landon pointed at the flyer lying in front of Hope. “Josie looks stunning in the firelight.”

He made eye contact with Josie for several seconds and flashed her a smile that was both happy and sad. Their moment, which did not go unnoticed by Hope, was interrupted by the bell signaling lunch. All Hope wanted to do was go hide in her room, but Landon had other plans. 

“Let’s go eat,” he looped his arm with Hopes and began to pull her out the door. She couldn’t help but to look back at Josie, who had to try 3 times to pick her pencil up off the floor, still flustered by Hope’s attempt at flirting. She avoided looking at Hope until they were in line at the cafeteria. Hope realized she could make a run for it, as Landon was distractedly talking to Raph, but she also wanted a second chance to flirt with Josie before she disappeared to her room for the rest of eternity. 

Hope swallowed three times before she decided to try again. She reach for a banana, but not for her own tray. “You should have this,” she handed it to Josie, who nervously accepted it.

“Okay,” Josie gently laid it on her tray. It was still hard for her to make eye contact with Hope, but she was also curious. “Why?” she found the courage to ask.

“Because,” Hope’s brain finally caught up to her mouth and she stopped herself from what she was about to say. “Well,” she realized she needed an immediate exit strategy, “I have to go,” was the to-the-point way she chose to end the conversation, and as soon as she was out of the cafeteria she magicked herself back to her room where she stood, immobile, fingers to forehead, for five minutes, reliving her flirting faux-paus. Fuck. She had called Josie Saltzman cute. To her face. She could never leave her room again.

That seemed like a good strategy until she had missed 2 classes and her stomach began to growl. She knew dinner was finishing up and she could see the sun was beginning to set. The bonfire would begin soon. She absolutely could not go. A knock on her door startled her. 

When she opened it, she saw several plates and a note. Josie, she knew, before she ever read it. “If you were a potato, you’d be a sweet one,” the note said, and Hope couldn’t breathe for several seconds. Instead of hating her, like she should, was Josie Saltzman actually…flirting back? She’d eat the potatoes first, Hope decided, and then she’d go to the bonfire. She needed to fact-check Kirby, after all, right? She had no doubt that Josie was beautiful in the firelight, but she needed to see for herself just how beautiful Josie was. 

Hope waited until she heard several songs play in the distance until she made her way to the old mill, not wanting to seem too eager to be there. 30 minutes late seemed like a good time to arrive, much better than not at all, which was her usual for social events. Hope did a quick lap around, although she noticed where Josie was the second she got there. She always liked to check her surroundings, though, unsure if that was her witch or her vampire or her wolf, or just her distrusting human side. 

Josie was with Landon, of course, and Hope was starting to regret coming. They were standing very close to each other, and both had a beer in their hands. Hope didn’t mean to stare, but Josie still caught her, and gave her a welcoming smile. Hope took that as her cue to go say hi, though she still hesitated several seconds before actually moving. 

“You came,” Josie was genuinely happy to see Hope. 

“I did,” Hope agreed, suddenly nervous. Josie opened her second beer and offered one to Hope, who declined. “Although I did grow up in New Orleans, a city that does throw a good party, it’s not really my thing.”

“Ah,” Josie took a swig of hers, “I’m learning a lot about you today.”

“I guess you are,” Hope stayed the course with just agreeing to what Josie said. Josie looked at Hope, long and hard, until Hope started to blush under such scrutiny. “Is there a reason for the inquisitive stare?” she asked to break the tension.

“Just trying to figure you out, Hope,” Josie finished her beer, and the way she said her name made Hope’s heart speed up. Hope knew she was more impossible to solve than a Rubix Cube, but she wanted to let Josie try. “My sister doesn’t trust you, Landon thinks he’s in love with you, and I…” she trailed off, staring into the fire. Hope realized she wasn’t going to finish that thought.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” she asked. Josie looked at Hope. “I mean, your sister doesn’t trust me, and yet you keep taking chances on me, regardless.” Josie nodded her head, and Hope could tell the alcohol was starting to kick in. Josie could tell she needed a refill, so she ventured to the closest cooler and got another beer before returning to the conversation, standing a little closer to Hope than when she had left. Hope considered taking a step back, but she really didn’t want to, so she stayed where she was, Josie’s coat grazing her arm every time she moved.

“And,” Hope continued, “Your boyfriend thinking he loves me doesn’t bother you at all?”

“Ex,” Josie took a long swig. She could tell Hope was confused, so she clarified, in a very happy tone, considering the news she was delivering: “Landon and I broke up.” She smiled gleefully at Hope.

“You seem happy about that,” Hope pointed out. “Are you happy, is your buzz making you feel good, or are you having a psychotic break?” she tried to offer up any viable option. 

“I’m happy,” Josie bumped her shoulder with Hope’s. “Landon was a good boyfriend, but he’s a great best friend. Now I can…explore other options,” Josie laughed and stumbled into Hope, who helped steady her.

“Well,” Hope kept one hand on Josie’s arm in case she decided to move again, “I hope we’ve established that I’m not in love with Landon, even if he’s in love with me,” and she knew this was neither the time nor the place to allude to Malivore or erased memories or the fact the she had indeed existed before, that they had had an entire life together but that she was the only one who knew, or that fire was kind of Josie's thing, so she kept her focus on the conversation at hand and what she could actually say. “But Landon’s not wrong about everything.” She wished she could finish that thought, but she just couldn’t. She could kill monsters and fight demons and survive several near-death experiences, but she was not brave enough or strong enough to tell Josie Saltzman how pretty she actually was.

Her moment of cowardice was interrupted by Josie swinging a banana in her face. 

“What was this about?” she asked, her face mere inches from Hope's. “Why was it sooooo important to you,” drunk Josie really emphasized the ‘so,’ “That I have this banana?” Hope genuinely laughed, both because Josie was drunk and because she had held onto the banana since lunch. “And don’t give me some bullshit answer, either. You’re good at avoidance, but I am persistent,” Josie put her hand over her chest, proud of her self-assessment. Hope looked at the fire, then back to Josie, smiling the whole time, finally rolling her eyes.

“Fine, fine, if you must know,” Hope closed her eyes and shook her head, “I was going to tell you that I find you,” she hesitated, crinkling her brow, contemplating whether to tell the truth.

“What?” Josie still had the banana, flailing it about, swinging it back and forth in front of Hope’s eyes as if to hypnotize her. It was very disarming. Josie in general was very disarming, and Hope decided to come out with it.

“I was going to tell you that I find you appealing,” Hope crossed her arms across her chest in the saddest show of self-protection. 

Josie repeated the word a few times before finally putting it together and laughing so hard she fell forward, only to over self-regulate so much that she fell on her butt. Hope attempted to help her up until she realized Josie wasn’t budging, so she opted to take a seat beside her instead. Josie was silent for a while and Hope started to get scared.

“So, the Hope train came from New Orleans?” Josie finished her beer. “Where is it going? I mean,” she looked at Hope so openly that it caught Hope off-guard. “Tonight, specifically?” 

Hope didn’t quite understand what Josie was asking, and the way Josie was looking at her didn’t help. “Walk me back to my room,” Josie whispered in Hope’s ear, and that cleared up Hope’s confusion, but made her foggy in a completely different way. In that moment, Hope felt like her heart stopped beating. She was definitely dying. Josie Saltzman had killed her.


	7. Of Princes and Pears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that evening, right on time, there was a knock on Hope’s door. This was beginning to become predictable, and Hope wasn’t going to lie – she liked it. Fighting monsters and being supernatural and losing her parents and her life in general was so unpredictable, all the time, and Hope liked that Josie Saltzman was consistent and reliable. She opened the door and invited Josie in, who came bearing food, per usual, and a…flyer.

Hope couldn’t complete a coherent thought. Thankfully, it took Josie longer than necessary to stand up, who was now standing right in front of her with her shinier-than-normal eyes and adorable smile. Hope nodded her head in confirmation, since she couldn’t manage to speak, and they both turned the direction of the dorms. 

“Hold it right there, Hope,” Lizzie’s voice came from somewhere behind them, “I’ll take it from here.” Hope was deflated, but also a little relieved. Her plan, that was progressing much faster and not in the way she had foreseen, began with just a thought, to make Josie re-crush on her, and she hadn’t really thought out any tangibles past that. And even in that very simple idea of a plan that started all this, the roles had been reversed and Josie was making Hope remember the crush she had had when she was 14, on a much shorter but still just as sweet Josie. Fuck. Her plan was backfiring.

“I’ve been talking to the boy in the basement,” Lizzie looped her arm with Josie’s, “and he said some interesting things.” Hope figured her best course of action would be to stay silent, but Josie was on a completely different alcohol-induced page.

“Oogh, we should go talk to him RIGHT NOW,” Josie was so proud of her idea, “he can read our minds!”

“NO,” Hope and Lizzie answered in unison, finally something they agreed on. 

“That sounds like a fun future idea, though, right Hope?” Lizzie put Hope on the spot. 

“Sure,” Hope answered, completely stressed about what Lizzie might know, but not wanting to show it. Thankfully, Lizzie never held her cards for too long, and just came out with it.

“Your sister has a suitor who is not what she seems,” Lizzie repeated from memory. “Now, isn’t that interesting, Josie?”, and although Lizzie asked the question to her, it was Hope who she never broke eye contact with. Hope tried not to fidget, but she couldn’t help it. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Lizzie called out over her shoulder as she drug a reluctant Josie away. Josie looked back at Hope and gave a shy smile and a wave that made Hope forget just for a second that she was in deep shit. She needed to see Pax now.

“Really?” she yelled as soon as she reach the bottom stair, making a magic fireball for light. “You’re just telling my secrets to everybody?”

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Pax replied, and it was obvious he enjoyed riling Hope up. He decided not to torture the girl, though, and went for a direct reply. “Well, somebody has to. It’s clear you need a nudge. I don’t have forever to watch you get the girl. I do want to go home, and soon,” his tone was no longer playful.

“I don’t need a nudge,” Hope protested.

“Oh, you do,” Pax disagreed. “You need several nudges. You need a forceful shove. You need…”

“I get it,” Hope interrupted. She got right up against the bars to look Pax in the eyes. “I’ve got it under control, so please butt out.” 

“Afraid I can’t,” Pax’s playful smile came back. “I’m too invested. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, and I don’t trust you to not ruin it.” 

“You’re meddling,” Hope pointed out. “In my heart.”

“We disagree on anatomy, as I’m meddling in your mind, but tomato, tomato,” Pax replied. “Although, it is nice to hear you being honest, for once. Acknowledging what you’re feeling. Maybe you should try doing that with, oh, I don’t know…Josie,” he suggested.

“I…can’t,” Hope was tired of arguing. For once, Pax didn’t reply, letting Hope know he was ready to listen. “Talking about feelings is scary, ADMITTING feelings is downright terrifying,” Hope slid down to rest with her back against the bars. “That’s a kind of brave I’ve never had to be. That’s a type of fearless that I’m not.” Pax slid down the bars to be as back-to-back with Hope as possible.

“Hope,” he encouraged, "can you do me a favor with Josie and just try to say what you mean? Then, maybe we’ll both get what we want?” Hope didn’t want to let anybody down – Josie, Pax, or herself.

“I’ll try,” she agreed, and thought maybe she could start the saying-what-you-mean phase now. “And thanks, for your help.” She didn’t wait for his answer, as she magicked herself back to her room, but she was proud of herself. Applying that skill with Josie was a lot harder than doing it with Pax, as she found out bright and early the next morning when she collided with Josie on their way to class.

“Sorry, they both said in unison, before they realized who they’d run into.

“Are you okay?” Hope asked. So far, so good. Think, feel, speak. Easy enough. 

“Fine,” Josie barely made eye contact, clearly embarrassed about last night. Hope wasn’t sure how to make her feel not-embarrassed. Josie did proposition her to go back to her room, after all. 

“Well good, well good,” Hope repeated herself, nervousness and the Josie-effect kicking in. “Ugh, because I owe you a walk.” 

“What?” Josie’s cheeks flushed. “About last night,” Josie tried to explain, but Hope cut her off.

“What about it?” she leaned in a little closer and never broke eye contact with Josie. Oh my God, who was she? Where was this confidence coming from? Hope was impressed with herself, but also knew she could not sustain this. This was not who she was, this was just who she was trying to be. 

Hope’s flirting flustered Josie, who tried several times to say something, but with no success. “I was drunk,” she shook her head, “and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I’ve had two relationships end in the past few months, mixed with some alcohol, and my desperation reared it’s pathetic head,” Josie had put some space in between them.

“It didn’t seem desperate to me,” Hope answered, willing herself to follow Pax’s advice and try to say what she means. “It seemed like a girl who knows what she wants.” Josie’s eyes flicked up for a second, surprised at Hope’s hypothesis, blushing because it was true. “Inspiring, really,” Hope continued, seeing that her plan may finally be working. “You’ve inspired me to do the same.”

Josie was speechless. Mostly, though, she was beautiful. “So,” Hope followed up, “I suppose a walk to class will suffice?” Josie nodded, rendered silent and quite frankly shocked by how Hope was behaving. Hope was quickly losing her courage, though, and wanted to get one last say-what-you-mean effort in before her confident, unafraid mask disappeared. “Your hand looks heavy. Can I hold it for you?”

That at least evoked a noise from Josie, who had been silent for way too long – a snort to acknowledge the cheesiness of the question, three seconds of eye contact, and finally – her hand in Hope’s, who couldn’t believe that she had just initiated their first romantic endeavor. Hope was suddenly filled with uncertainty – was her hand too clammy, should she have intertwined their fingers instead of holding Josie’s whole hand, what in the hell was she gonna do if they saw someone else in the hallway, was her hand still sticky from the orange she had peeled and eaten on the way here, should she rub Josie’s finger with her thumb or squeeze her hand in acknowledgement, could Josie feel that the temperature of her skin was a little different than that of an average human? Oh my God, what had she done? She needed to abort this mission, immediately.

“It’s okay,” Josie had clearly felt her uneasiness, “we’re here. You did it!” Hope let out a huge breath. 

“I did it,” she echoed in disbelief.

“So, did Landon put you up to this?” Josie’s insecurity came tumbling back.

“What?” Hope was caught off guard. 

“You just, I don’t know, seem…different,” Josie assessed. “Have YOU been drinking?” she tried to ease the tension.

“No,” Hope smiled, “no, although, if I did drink, day drinking would definitely be my style,” she joked back. 

“Well, kiss me if I’m wrong,” Josie continued the banter, “but somebody definitely put you up to this.” Hope couldn’t move. Her smile disappeared and her eyes went wide. Josie had mentioned kissing. 

“Girls,” Emma ended their awkwardness, “class has begun.” Josie gave Hope one last smile and walked in the door, Hope taking a moment to compose herself before following. Saying-what-you-mean Hope had made her debut, to much success, but just-being-herself-Hope needed time to recover and regroup, so she spent the rest of the day in her room, ignoring Rick’s texts about the classes she was missing. Socializing exhausted her, especially when it came with going out on a limb and trying something new and putting yourself out there. Plus, she had made an impact on Josie today, so she’d call that a win. 

Later that evening, right on time, there was a knock on Hope’s door. This was beginning to become predictable, and Hope wasn’t going to lie – she liked it. Fighting monsters and being supernatural and losing her parents and her life in general was so unpredictable, all the time, and Hope liked that Josie Saltzman was consistent and reliable. She opened the door and invited Josie in, who came bearing food, per usual, and a…flyer.

“I wasn’t sure if you knew, so I thought I’d just put it on your radar that Miss Mystuc Falls is this weekend,” Josie gave the flyer to Hope. 

“Eew,” Hope replied, not meaning to say that out loud. Saying what you mean didn’t always work to her advantage, she was beginning to realize. There were thoughts she should keep to herself. “I just mean,” she tried again,”

“It’s not really your thing?” Josie answered for her.

“Yeah,” Hope replied, glad she didn’t offend Josie with her first reaction.

“I figured,” Josie was so understanding. “I’m on the decorating committee, if you have any input, and I’ll be there, if you, you know, change your mind,” she looked down at the floor. Hope tried to compel her confident side to come back, but she could only be not-herself for so long. “Was it Lizzie, then?” Josie broke the silence. “That put you up to holding my hand this morning”, Josie clarified when she saw confusion on Hope’s face. “She’s been acting weird lately and oddly not criticizing you as much as she usually does.”

“Ugh, no, Lizzie didn’t…” Hope trailed off, still trying to put all the pieces together and figure out a way to ease Josie’s fears about her intentions. 

“Okay,” Josie kindly smiled, but was clearly not convinced. “Well, I hope you enjoy dinner, and I hope,” she paused, “I hope that you ditching classes wasn’t to avoid me,” she crossed her feet in front of her and did the same with her hands before spinning to leave the room before Hope could answer.

Shit, Hope thought. She needed to make this right, but she didn’t know how. Finally, as she was getting ready for bed, she picked up the flyer Josie had left. She crumbled it into a ball and threw it into her trashcan. She could not believe what she was about to do. It went against every grain in her body, the thought itself making her nauseous. Was she really in this deep? Did she really like Josie this much? She sat on her bed for several seconds to try to answer those questions. Fuck it, Mikaelson, she decided, and walked out her door.

The whole way to Josie’s room she thought about what she’d say. ‘Hey Josie – in my History class, we’re learning about important dates. Wanna be mine?’ Oh my God, no. Think, Mikaelson, think. Hope had been outside of Josie’s door for four minutes contemplating what she knew would be the most embarrassing moment of her life. 

“Will you just knock already?” Lizzie’s voice came through the door, though she didn’t give Hope time to. She swung the door open in mock exasperation. “Why are you so weird?” Josie was right – Lizzie’s insults weren’t as bad as they normally were. 

“I just – I had a question for Josie,” Hope tried her best to explain. Josie got off her bed and walked toward Hope. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing the cutest pastel pajamas. 

“Hey, Hope,” Josie was hesitant, but welcoming.

“Josie, I know how much you love dances and you were so excited talking about Miss Mystic Falls earlier, and I know the decorations are going to look amazing because you’re on the committee, even if pink is a miserable color” Hope rambled, with no direction or idea as to what she was going to say.

“Are you sure you understand what a question is?” Lizzie interjected, albeit very entertained by what she was seeing.

“Yes, I know,” Hope started to sass back, but redirected her attention to Josie. Her mind went blank upon seeing her, though, so she just shoved the plate of fruit she had brought at her instead. Josie’s eyebrows crinkled, but she took the plate from Hope. She looked at the two pears on the plate.

“You think green would be a better choice?” Josie tried to decipher what Hope was trying to ask.

“No,” Hope blushed, knowing she needed to use words. “I think,” she tried again and failed. Finally, she looked at the floor, closed her eyes, and said what she meant: “I think I hate pink, but you look beautiful in it. I think I hate dances and crowds in general, but I would endure them for you. I think, if you would like to go to the dance with me, that we’d make a great…pear,” she pointed at the plate Josie was holding but still avoided her gaze, which is why she didn’t see Josie walking closer.

Josie hugged Hope and giggled into her ear. “I would love to be your date." Hope had found a balance of being who she was and being who she wanted to be, and it had worked. Josie was going to be her date to Miss Mystic Falls. Hope was going to have to talk to people. And smile a lot. And dance. For hours. Fuck.


	8. Of Coconut Cake Batter and Corsages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here’s the thing: Miss Mystic Falls was happening on a full moon. Sure, Hope could control her supernatural sides, mostly, but that’s because she was almost always alone and in control. Being around Josie made her lose control of everything, most noticeably her ability to think and speak. Hope was scared, to say the least, that the moon and the magic of being around Josie Saltzman might make her werewolf a little more eager to escape, and Josie could tell Hope was having second thoughts.

Okay, here’s the thing: Miss Mystic Falls was happening on a full moon. Sure, Hope could control her supernatural sides, mostly, but that’s because she was almost always alone and in control. Being around Josie made her lose control of everything, most noticeably her ability to think and speak. Hope was scared, to say the least, that the moon and the magic of being around Josie Saltzman might make her werewolf a little more eager to escape, and Josie could tell Hope was having second thoughts.

“It’s okay, to change your mind, you know,” Josie said from behind the changing stall. She and Hope were currently dress shopping. Or, more accurately, Josie was dress shopping while Hope was tolerating the outing. They wanted to match, or, at the very least, not clash with each other. 

“About what?” Hope inquired, only partly in the moment.

“Going to the dance with me,” Josie said politely. She came out of the stall in a beautiful blue dress that was humble yet somehow so hot. As if I would ever change my mind, Hope thought, and then realized she should say something out loud. She stood up and took several steps toward Josie.

“I don’t want to change my mind,” Hope reassured, as convincingly as she could. She also thought some honesty might help in the current situation, so she followed that whim. “I’m sorry if I’ve seemed uninterested, but it’s not you. It’s never you.” She had intended to stop there, but she heard her voice continue, “You are interesting. I’m interested. I find you very interesting. I mean, I am so interested. In you.” Oh my God, send help.

“I got it,” Josie finally let Hope off the hook, smiling contently. “I think maybe you doth protest too much, though.”

“What?” Hope knew her Josie-induced ramblings could be hard to follow, but now she was the one who didn’t understand.

“Are you sure you’re doing this for you, and not because somebody asked you to?” Josie sat down on the bench. Hope followed. “I know how convincing Lizzie can be, especially when she thinks she’s trying to help, and she always thinks she’s trying to help,” Josie emphasized. “And I know Landon really wants me to be happy and might also meddle to try and make that happen,” she began playing with her fingers. “Or, you’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad,” Josie continued to hypothesize, “did he say something…”

“Josie,” Hope cut her off. “Nobody asked me to ask you to the dance. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I asked you because I wanted to? It is entirely possible that you are dance-date worthy,” Hope bumped Josie’s shoulder with her own. 

“Okay,” Josie accepted Hope’s answer with only one more rebuttal, “but I did,” she took a breath and lifted her eyebrows, “I did ask you to stay the night, so please don’t do this to not hurt my feelings, either.” Hope licked her lips at the memory and nodded her head.

“Yes, yes you did,” was all she could manage in response. “And I’m not,” she managed to get out whilst realizing just how close she was sitting to Josie.

“Well then, what do you think of this one?” Josie asked, shyly ruffling her dress. Hope had already decided that was the one, but she wanted Josie to wear what she liked the most. “I like it if you do,” she gave Josie a genuine grin. Josie smiled back.

“Well you certainly made it easy – anything will match black.” Josie looked at herself in the dress one last time in the mirror, and agreed that was the one. 

“I can only make so many sacrifices,” Hope replied, referring to her dress of choice. 

“I know you’re probably so over this day,” Josie was in the stall again, changing back into her casual clothes, “but would you want to get a milkshake for the road?” What Josie didn’t know was that Hope would get just about anything if it meant spending more time with her, so she nodded her approval, noting that Josie couldn’t see her.

“Yes,” she finally answered, but also had one more item on her to-do list. “Meet you at the Ice Cream Barn in 10 minutes? I need to do something really quick,” she asked.

“Sure,” Josie answered, and although Hope couldn’t see her, she knew Josie was smiling.

Hope was trying to explain what she wanted to the clerk when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Need some help, Hope?” In any other circumstance, Hope would not voluntarily say out loud that she needed Landon, but in this particular instance, she could really use his help.

“Yes, please,” she answered in relief. 

“So you need a corsage?” he asked, trying to gather details to be useful.

“Yes,” Hope replied. “I’ve never done this before,” she replied sheepishly.

“What color is your dress?” Landon asked.

“Black,” Hope said proudly, and Landon hesitated for just a second.

“O-Okay,” he stuttered. “And what color is Josie’s?” Hope didn’t even try to interrogate him about why he just assumed Josie was her date. Shopping was exhausting and she hoped she didn’t have to do it again for a very long time. Anyway, if she was this obvious to Landon, why couldn’t Josie take a hint? Landon looked to the side and then back at Hope, who realized she hadn’t answered his question.

“Blue,” she finally focused on the task at hand.

“Okay, that only narrows it down a tad,” Landon smiled his lop-sided grin. “There are lots of shades of blue. Could you be more specific?” Hope thought about how to describe it. It was taking her longer than she wanted, but Landon was being extremely patient. 

“It’s kind of like, you know how when right before the sun sets, or right before a storm comes, or,” she was trying to think of a better explanation when she was interrupted by Josie herself.

“It’s the color of Hope’s eyes,” Josie looked down as she said it and shifted her purse nervously. “Kinda hard not to notice and completely unforgettable,” she finished, smiling shyly at Hope and barely looking into the eyes she was waxing poetic about before she went to the counter to get her own corsage. When Hope’s eyes stopped following Josie they landed on Landon, who had his hand over his mouth in total excitement. He winked at Hope, who rolled her eyes and watched Josie exit the store. “See you at the Ice Cream Barn,” she waved over her shoulder.

Landon helped Hope pick out a corsage and then began picking out one for his date, as well. 

Hope looked stressfully at the milkshake options. Why were there so many choices? Josie, on the other hand, was looking at her, as if she was the only choice, and Hope smiled and looked down, finding it hard to concentrate.

“Strawberry for you, right?” she finally managed to ask.

“Yeah,” Josie seemed surprised that Hope remembered. “Simple is perfectly okay with me.” Hope nodded. It was their turn to order. Josie told the waitress hers and then Hope made her decision.

“Coconut Cake Batter, please.” Josie looked at her, unblinking, for several seconds. “I’m doing this thing where I’m trying new things,” Hope explained confidently. “Unchartered territory and conquering my fear and all that.” Josie was looking at her proudly, and sipping her milkshake approvingly. Hope liked the taste of being brave, but she wasn’t so sold on the taste of her milkshake. 

“How’s yours?” Josie clearly noticed, as perceptive as she was sweet.

“Great,” Hope lied, taking another drink for emphasis.

“Uh-huh,” Josie let her live in misery for a minute longer before picking up another straw and offering to share hers. They both drank at the same time, the coldness of the ice cream balancing out the heat they both felt on their faces. Hope could feel Josie’s hair lightly tickling her face, and took another drink to distract herself. She couldn’t even share a drink with Josie, how in the hell was she supposed to slow dance with her without completely passing out? 

Hope was still lost in thought when the heat from Josie’s body suddenly disappeared. Hope realized Josie was standing up.

“Decorating starts at 7,” Josie explained. “It usually takes us two days.” 

“Okay,” Hope was unsure how to tell Josie goodbye, so she decided on, “well, have fun!” They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, the awkwardness of the situation beginning to set in. Hope knew that there should be a physical goodbye to go with the greeting, but she wasn’t sure exactly what. A kiss on the cheek was probably acceptable, she decided, and leaned in to do that just as Josie leaned in as well, but it became increasingly clear to Hope, albeit too late, that Josie was going in for a hug. 

Hope tried to change course but couldn’t, and kissed Josie’s cheek right before Josie pulled her in for a hug, a hug that ended up being only a half hug, as Josie froze when Hope’s lips met her cheek. They stood in a partial embrace for what seemed like eternity until both girls were able to function again. Hope’s hands were covering her face and Josie’s were fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as they both apologized and avoided eye contact.

“S, s, so I’ll see you tomorrow?” Josie was the first one to put a coherent sentence together, after stuttering several times. 

“Yes,” Hope answered in as little words as possible.

“You can keep the milkshake,” Josie offered thoughtfully.

“Thanks,” Hope replied. “Strawberry, like you.” What? What the hell was she saying? Fuck, why did she always do this? “I mean, like you smell.” She shook her head and gave up, knowing Josie didn’t smell anything like strawberries. Josie started to leave, completely confused and shaking her head.

“Let me try again,” Hope composed herself. “Thank you for letting me have the strawberry milkshake, that will remind me of the incredible day I had with you today.” She let out a sigh and gave Josie a pleading look to not be too hard on her.

“You’re welcome. But, for the record, you’re the only one who looks like a strawberry at the moment,” Josie only slightly teased, referring to Hope’s noticeably red cheeks. Hope nodded in defeat and agreement. “Goodbye,” Josie tried again, making it obvious she was going in for a hug, to which Hope obliged and they accomplished with no mishaps this time. Josie only looked back over her shoulder twice as she was leaving, and Hope thudded her head against the table, embarrassed that she even cared.


	9. Of Canines and Confessions

Hope picked Josie up, so to speak, at her dad’s office, because Rick wanted pictures, and it was the easiest solution all around, as Lizzie and MG were also there. Lizzie only half rolled her eyes when Hope walked in the room, but once Hope saw Josie, everything else disappeared. How did Josie manage to look the same, yet incredibly different? Josie spoke first, feeling the uneasiness radiating off of Hope.

“Hi,” Josie said shyly, pursing her lips before complimenting Hope. “You…wow,” was all she managed to say. Josie looked at the floor in embarrassment, and then back at Hope to try again. “I didn’t know black could be so beautiful,” she quietly complimented. Hope knew her cheeks had to be as red as her hair.

“You’ve always looked good in blue, but you are stunning tonight,” Hope returned the compliment with one of her own. “My eyes look good on you.” Damn it, Mikaelson, she berated herself. Can’t you ever just stop while you’re ahead?  
Josie was clearly entertained and waiting for Hope to stutter her way out of that interesting vocalization. “You know what I mean,” Hope was so embarrassed she wanted to stop talking immediately, but she also wanted Josie to understand. “Do you know what I mean?” she nervously asked.

“I think I know what you were trying to say,” Josie poked Hope’s arm.

“Alright,” Rick interrupted, to the relief of both of them, “Picture time!”

“Oh here,” Hope fumbled with the corsage that she could not for the life of her get out of its box. She finally succeeded after several attempts, and shakily put it on Josie’s wrist. Josie pulled Hope over to a table where hers was sitting and gave Hope hers, as well.

“It’s beautiful,” they both said in unison. Hope admired the corsage that Josie got her – 4 layers of alternating black and blue ribbons that got bigger by layer and made a beautiful flower shape. Josie admired the corsage Hope got for her, blue ribbon with black lace and a single white rose in the middle.

Hope and Josie, standing side by side, stole glances at each other while they were awaiting their turn, watching Lizzie and MG get their picture taken. Josie, in a moment of hero-level bravery, lightly touched her fingertips to Hope’s. To make sure she wasn’t hallucinating, Hope looked at Josie, who was biting her lip and purposefully avoiding her gaze. Hope, with all the courage she could muster, mimicked the gesture, and their fingers slowly intertwined, both girls holding their breath. 

Hope didn’t want to seem over-eager, but she really, really liked the feeling of Josie’s hand in hers, so she reach a little farther, fitting her hand perfectly in Josie’s, making them stand shoulder to shoulder in the process. Hope closed her eyes and prayed Josie couldn’t feel the fire that seemed to overtake her body in that moment, or the goosebumps. She knew that was contradictory, but that was the exact unpredictable effect Josie had on her.

“Next,” Rick smiled and turned to Hope and Josie, who quickly unlaced their hands and stumbled in front of the fireplace, knowing they’d been caught. Rick took a few pictures that he didn’t have the heart to tell them were incredibly awkward, so Lizzie did, instead.

“Come on,” she said in the most dramatic way possible. “This is painful to watch. Josie,” she went up to her sister and arranged her hands, “Put your hand on Hope’s waist, and Hope,” she moved Hope’s hands as well, “You do the same.” She then stepped back to admire her work, and although completely dissatisfied and not shy about showing it, she gave up, with one last piece of advice: “It would help a lot if you both stopped being so stupid and just looked at each other for longer than two seconds,” and with that, she drug MG out the door. 

Hope took her hand off Josie’s waist and took a step back to put some space in between them, feeling really uncomfortable with the affectionate display, in front of Josie’s dad, no less.

“The hands on the waist was a bit much,” Rick tried to make them feel better, “so maybe you could just hold hands…again,” he didn’t mean to say the last part. Both Hope and Josie blushed and looked at each other for confirmation. With no words, it was decided: Josie took Hope’s hand, they both laughed about the absurdity of the situation they were in, and Rick got the perfect picture of the two of them. 

And that was the easy part, Hope reminded herself as they headed out the door toward the dance. Now came the hours of socializing and cringey music, and slow dancing. With Josie Saltzman. In close proximity. Multiple times. On a full moon. She was not okay.

20 minutes in, and the dance hadn’t been so bad. Lots of people came up to say hi, and only Landon lingered and pushed Hope’s socialization boundary for the night. His date eventually drug him away, though, and Josie was unsurprisingly easy to talk to. Hope had gotten up the nerve to ask Josie about the necklace she was wearing, the one Hope gave to her on her birthday, but of course Josie didn’t remember that.

“I don’t know where I got it,” Josie looked lost in thought, trying to remember. “I don’t remember the who or the what or the when or the why. Isn’t that weird?” She clutched the necklace in her hand, as she often did, and continued, “I just know that it makes me feel better when I wear it. Safe, almost. When I hold it, it makes me feel calm, like whoever gave it to me really cared about me. That must sound crazy, huh?” she fumbled with the necklace a few more seconds before letting it go completely.

“Not at all,” Hope smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” Hope caught Josie’s eyes with that slip-up, but before Josie could ask any follow-up questions, a slow song came on. Both girls froze in place. This was the moment that scared Hope the most. 

“We don’t have to,” Josie reassured. Hope was almost offended. As if she would put in all this effort and not do the thing that she had been dreading, yes, but also looking forward to.

“Of course we do,” Hope made sure to make eye contact with Josie in case she messed this up with words. She was trying hard to communicate with Josie telepathically because communication with Josie orally was not something she was very good at. “This is one of the best parts,” Hope managed to say with absolutely no mistakes or misunderstandings, and she led Josie to the dance floor. 

It took them a few seconds to figure out who should place their hands where, but once they did, they shyly smiled at each other and began swaying to the music. With each passing second, they both were admitting to themselves how much they actually liked the other, and trying to make the most of the moment in silence. Hope noticed the full moon shining in through one of the windows, and felt a pang of pain in her mouth. She knew that she would not be able to stop her canines from protruding, but she did hope she could keep her wolf at bay. Their first dance ended without any mishaps, and both girls felt their confidence and comfort-level increase.

Their second slow dance was slightly less awkward, as their hands fell naturally in place: Hope’s behind the neck of the taller girl, and Josie’s around the waist of the shorter. They managed to make intermittent conversation, though it was hard to talk over the music, mostly Josie asking Hope if she was okay. Hope tried not to flinch as her canines came through, but Josie clearly felt her body tense as she tried not to be too obvious. With every song, the moon got higher in the sky, and Hope started to prepare her exit plan in case she had to ditch Josie later. 

Their third slow dance was almost relaxing, as they stood closer than they ever had without panicking to the point of ruining the moment. Hope knew that her time was running out as her entire body ached in a way that she knew meant no other reason except transforming tonight. Hope’s wolf, which was now winning the internal battle, was a little more affectionate than Hope the human, and to soak up what last few minutes she had, Hope rested her head on Josie’s shoulder, an act that took them both by surprise. 

The music cut off as someone, Hope couldn’t tell who because her vision was becoming blurry and she knew her eyes would be turning soon, took the stage to announce the Miss Mystic Falls Queen. To nobody’s surprise, Lizzie won. 

“Wow, that crown is beautiful,” Josie admired, and Hope couldn’t last a minute longer – she took off to the closest exit that would lead her outside. She just hadn’t planned on Josie following.

“Hope? Hope, wait,” Josie caught up with her and gently tugged on her arm. Hope closed her eyes before turning around, not wanting Josie to see.

“I know you don’t like Lizzie, but it was inevitable that she was going to win. It’s okay. Even I voted for her.” Hope scoffed. Why was Josie so sweet?

“Josie, this isn’t about Lizzie,” she doubled over with a pain that brought her to her hands and knees on the floor.

“Oh my God,” Josie was quick to bend beside her, concern evident in her voice and surely on her face as well, though Hope still couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.

“Josie, listen to me. My name is Hope.”

“I know,” Josie now had an arm draped over Hope’s back, trying to still her from falling.

“My name is Hope Mikaelson,” Hope cried out again, this one so painful that her eyes did open and she saw the shock and terror that it brought to Josie’s face. “I’m a tribrid,” she tried to explain, because she knew she was running out of time. “Witch, vampire, and aaah,” she was flat on the floor now, “and werewolf,” she got out through winces. “It’s a full moon,” she looked into Josie’s eyes, which should have been way more scared of her. “You have a diary under your bed that records everything people in the school write with the pens Penelope put a spell on. Read my entry from earlier tonight, before I met you for the dance.” 

Hope knew that’s all she could explain, and she ran out the door before Josie could see the beast she was about to become. She was fully prepared for Josie to never want to speak to her again, and that sad realization came out of Hope in howls, howls that kept her and Josie up all night. Josie, who had read everything Hope had written about Malivore and their lives before that, refused to sleep, because if she couldn’t be with Hope right now, she at least didn’t want her to be alone.


	10. Of Portals and Pomegranates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, let’s get you home,” Lizzie exclaimed with an eagerness they all shared. “Tell us what we need to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A kind reader pointed out that the Salvatore School wouldn't have Homecoming on a full moon what with all the werewolves, so I changed it from the Salvatore School Homecoming Dance to the Miss Mystic Falls Dance. That change will be in chapters 7 - 10. This will be the last chapter, and I truly, truly appreciate all those who have taken the time to leave comments and kudos, bookmark, and give me input. Sincerely, thank you. 
> 
> I was considering doing a Josie/Jade fic next, as Jade really made an impact on me haha, so I'm still trying to decide yay or nay for that. 
> 
> THANKS FOR READING!

Hope doesn’t even remember shifting back to her human self and making her way back to her room, she just knows she is in her bed and exhausted. She literally ran away from Josie last night, after telling her all she could in person, the rest in writing, and she wonders what Josie thinks. Hope doesn’t have time to over-think like she usually would, though, as a note slides under her door. Her chest tightens, knowing it’s from Josie, wondering what it might possibly say.

Hope waits several seconds until she even attempts to get out of bed, and she walks to the door as lightly as she can. She doesn’t know why she doesn’t want to be heard. Probably because she would disappear if she could, and she probably could find a spell for that, but she already did that, to be honest, when she went to Malivore. Maybe what she wants more than anything is to be seen, and my gosh how Josie sees her. 

Hope picks up the note and sits cautiously on the end of her bed. She takes several deep breaths before beginning to unfold the note. “Pax is leaving, thought you might want to say goodbye,” she reads aloud. She re-reads it several times, trying to gauge the tone. Nothing personal in it, but Josie’s not outright ignoring her, either, so for now she’d accept the neutrality of the note, and she did want to say goodbye. Hope pulled on a hoodie and some jeans and made her way to the basement to say goodbye to the boy. 

Everybody else was already there when she arrived – Lizzie, Landon, MG, Raphael, Kaleb, and …Josie. Josie, who seemed scared to look at her, which hurt Hope a little. Hope pulls the arms of her hoodie over her fingers and balls them into her fist. It makes her feel safer, protected, stops her from crying. 

“There she is,” Pax proclaims, as if he’s oblivious to all the tension and emotion that’s taking up so much space in the room Hope feels like she can’t move from the wall, but she knows he knows. She knows he is reading the room and absorbing it all. She hopes he doesn’t say much of it out loud. He nods at her, because of course he heard that thought. 

Hope noticed Josie was clenching the necklace, the one that she now knew Hope gave her. 

“Ah, yes, that,” Pax decides to speak on the matter, looking intently at Hope. “You gave it to Josie, but you were the one who needed it. A love internal,” he mused, and Josie finally looked at Hope. As much as she wanted to avoid the moment, Hope couldn’t help but look back. She wondered what the others were thinking, but they looked like they’d already had their telepathic therapy session before Hope arrived, so she tried to silently plead with Josie to forgive her. 

Pax laughed, angering Hope, who’d had enough of her heart being so exposed to someone she barely knew. 

“Well, let’s get you home,” Lizzie exclaimed with an eagerness they all shared. “Tell us what we need to do.”

“My magic isn’t strong enough, so I’ll just need to borrow some of yours,” he answered as Landon unlocked the door and led the way upstairs. They’d need a bigger, more…private space to open the portal to Pax’s world. Hope and Josie both tried to follow at the same time, gently knocking into each other. They talked apologies over each other before Lizzie, who was behind them, pushed them up the steps one at a time, exhausted with the both of them. 

In a field far from the school, they all said their goodbyes to Pax, who hugged Hope extra tight. I guess he’d helped them all, in a selfish, nosy way. Hope offered up her magic, and in conjunction with Pax’s, they opened a portal to the Fae world Pax was from. He waved, walked through it, and was gone. The portal closed, and the group began to disband. As Josie started to walk away, Hope knew she had to say something.

“Josie,” she said, barely above a whisper. It was enough, as Josie stopped and turned, making sure everyone else was gone before taking some steps toward Hope. Hope decided she should start with an apology. “I’m sorry, if I’ve made you feel like I’m avoiding you,” Hope looked at the ground. She really wasn’t good at this.

“What?” Josie asked, surprised. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one avoiding you,” she chuckled.

“Why?” Hope asked, afraid of the answer. 

Josie dug into the dirt with the Converse sneaker she was wearing, fidgeting as she answered. 

“I had a crush on you,” she exhaled, “and I burned down your room and everything you loved because of it.” Josie could see the confusion on Hope’s face. “I did a spell,” she clarified, “to bring back your memory.” Hope nodded. 

“So, then you’ll also remember that I forgave you,” Hope reach a hand toward Josie, lightly grazing the end of Josie’s jacket.

“Why?” Josie’s big brown eyes were focused on Hope. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it, Hope encouraged herself. She thought she heard Pax’s voice saying the same thing.

“Because I had a crush on you, too.” She said it. Hope couldn’t believe it. She had conquered her fear and said the scary words out loud. She decided to roll with her sudden courage, “Have,” she clarified. “Hey, come with me,” she took Josie’s hand and pulled her in the direction of town.

“Okay,” Josie laughed, when they were in the parking lot after their impromptu grocery trip. “Why did you so urgently need to get a pomegranate?”

“Because,” Hope pulled it out of the bag, “you deserve it.” Josie’s whole face crinkled up in the cutest way, as she wasn’t following what Hope was trying to say.

“It’s the only thing I could think of on the fly,” Hope explained, embarrassed about how she didn’t really think this through. “Pomegranates have crowns,” she handed it to Josie. “And you are my Miss Mystic Falls.” Josie felt her legs go numb. Was she still standing? She couldn’t tell. She wanted to hug Hope, but she couldn’t move, so she just opened her arms, hoping Hope got the hint. She did.

Hope nestled herself into Josie’s arms, Josie’s height advantage something Hope didn’t mind, as Hope’s head fit right on her shoulder. This felt nice. Josie felt…right. There was one more thing Hope needed to do, though, before this moment was over. 

“Remember when you thought someone had put me up to asking you to the dance?” Hope took a chance and wrapped her arms around Josie’s waist. Josie nodded, so Hope continued, “and you said, you said,” Hope was starting to chicken out. She put her forehead against Josie’s chest until she had the courage to continue. “You said, ‘Kiss me if I’m wrong,’” she reminded the girl.

Josie’s cheeks went red and she bit her lip, putting her hands on her face and putting her head on Hope’s shoulder, overwhelmed by what she thought was going to happen. “I did say that,” she managed to mumble from her current position. She was wrong, though, and she really wanted that kiss, so she lifted her head up to look into Hope’s eyes. 

Hope had a hard time keeping eye contact, but she didn’t really need to, as her eyes naturally closed as she leaned in to collect. The kiss was short and sweet, right there in the parking lot, but it meant everything to Hope. She put everything into the kiss that she ever wanted to say, and Josie was still there, holding her, putting her forehead to Hope’s. Neither of them spoke. 

“So,” Hope finally broke the silence, laughing nervously about what just happened. “You already know the Hope train came from New Orleans, and I have no idea where its journey will end, but it does have a final destination today, if any passengers may be interested,” she looked at the ground, hands on each of Josie’s hips, nervously pushing her away and pulling her closer. 

“And where might that be?” Josie played along, knowing where she hoped they’d end up.

“My room?” Hope asked, completely insecure and expecting to be turned down.

“Well then,” Josie took Hope’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “ticket for 1 please,” she was so happy. Hope had never seen her happier. Why had she waited so long to tell Josie Saltzman the truth? 

“All aboard,” Hope took Josie’s other hand, facing her, and started to pull Josie in the direction of the school. She had wanted Josie since she was 14. She never would have thought that Josie wanted her, too. “Thanks, Pax,” she yelled, as loud as she could, hoping that maybe he’d hear. “I owe you one.”


End file.
